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Thousands of people are living in refugee camps run by the Government.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAmnesty International has raised concerns many people have gone missing or been detained. Among them are three doctors who gave important eye-witness accounts in the final days of the war.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EDr Brian Morton is the New South Wales president of the Australian Medical Association.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EBRIAN MORTON: The doctors were treating the thousands of displaced civilians in the war-torn region. Even though the hospitals were damaged they continued to treat injured and sick in those areas in make-shift facilities.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAnd the three doctors reported heavy bombardments, high civilian suffering and casualties, and they were quoted by international media. It's believed that because of that, retaliation by the Government, despite them being in fact employed by the Government, may have occurred.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EMEREDITH GRIFFITHS: When concerns were first raised about their detention the Sri Lankan Government said the three doctors had been making false accusations about the Government forces and had colluding with the Tamil Tigers.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EUnder Sri Lankan law, the doctors must appear in court once a month. Dr Morton says it's unclear if that's happened or if they've even been charged because no-one's heard from them since the 15th of May.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EBRIAN MORTON: The families of the doctors have not had any contact with them; nor have the doctors been given any legal representation. And there is concern that they may be held at the terrorist investigation division in Colombo. And Amnesty International believes that one of the doctors was seriously injured and reportedly airlifted to an unknown destination for treatment.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EMEREDITH GRIFFITHS: The AMA wants Australia's Foreign Affairs Minister to urgently intervene and raise concerns with Sri Lankan authorities over the wellbeing and whereabouts of the doctors. That's been backed by Bruce Haigh, a former Australian diplomat in Sri Lanka.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EBRUCE HAIGH: And I broaden that call, urging the Federal Government to put in medical assistance for the people in the camps that are now controlled by the Sri Lankan Government. The conditions in those camps are utterly appalling. There's a lack of sanitation. There's a lack of water. There's a lack of food. There's a lack of shelter - anything up to 10 people living in four-man tents.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EMEREDITH GRIFFITHS: Bruce Haigh is one of 11 prominent Australians who have written to Kevin Rudd asking him to push Sri Lanka to allow aid agencies and journalists unrestricted access to refugee camps.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe letter signed by high-profile lawyers, academics and bishops also calls for an investigation into allegations that Sri Lankan Government troops committed war crimes including rape and torture.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EHowever Canberra is facing a diplomatic quandary. This week a Canadian politician who has been outspokenly critical of the recent Sri Lanka military offensive, was refused entry to the country. Even though his trip was prearranged Bob Rae was detained at the airport in Colombo on Tuesday night after intelligence officials accused him of being a Tamil sympathiser.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EBOB RAE: It really reflects very badly on the situation. I mean, look I mean, you know I'm an MP, I can get a platform, I can make my case, I can fight back. But there's 300,000 very vulnerable people who are being interviewed now and assessed as to whether they are LTTE supporters and if the net catches me it's going to catch an awful lot of other people.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EMEREDITH GRIFFITHS: Former diplomat Bruce Haigh says that incident should not stop the Australian Government criticising Sri Lanka.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EBRUCE HAIGH: Quite the contrary. The Australian Government should apply pressure on the Sri Lankan Government in concert with the UN and other agencies and the Commonwealth secretariat to get Sri Lanka to behave in accordance with international norms.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EBanning Canadians or anybody else from going to Sri Lanka won't solve the problem. That's just a PR exercise and the Australian Government won't get anywhere, and neither will the Canadian Government, if they comply and bend at the knee to the Sri Lankan Government on this.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EMaybe they'd want to do it behind closed doors but there needs to be some pretty tough negotiations with the Sri Lankans.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EPETER CAVE: The former Australian diplomat Bruce Haigh ending that report from Meredith Griffiths.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe ABC has tried to contact the Sri Lankan High Commissioner today but he has been unavailable for comment.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E---\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"\"\u003ESource: \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.abc.net.au\/worldtoday\/content\/2008\/s2595448.htm\"\u003Ehttp:\/\/www.abc.net.au\/worldtoday\/content\/2008\/s2595448.htm\u003C\/a\u003E]\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"blogger-post-footer\"\u003ERaise your voice for the Tamils killed in Vanni Massacre! \nAct NOW to liberate the Tamil civilians from the barbed wire camps in Sri Lanka!\u003C\/div\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/vannimassacre.blogspot.com\/feeds\/4595487902702200430\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"https:\/\/vannimassacre.blogspot.com\/2009\/06\/world-today-australia-urged-to-do-more.html#comment-form","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/4564570884155420964\/posts\/default\/4595487902702200430"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/4564570884155420964\/posts\/default\/4595487902702200430"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"https:\/\/vannimassacre.blogspot.com\/2009\/06\/world-today-australia-urged-to-do-more.html","title":"The World Today - Australia urged to do more for human rights in Sri Lanka"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"hr Alert"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/15745495003387147010"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"32","height":"28","src":"\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/img\/b\/R29vZ2xl\/AVvXsEicPjYmYc9kx_cWeQ1hpAS0N8jnhNUp2sAIO-Qd1DD15RBk8-RMME_FFs9rfmDm9btSkNruwV5paba4oQ05f0DzCd1VD1LOLvV8O8Xgz-DoiE10tBHK3yW_dGs_GCVWRw\/s220\/cry.jpg"}}],"thr$total":{"$t":"0"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4564570884155420964.post-2217331921191640665"},"published":{"$t":"2009-06-08T06:32:00.000-07:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2009-08-14T03:37:59.234-07:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Barbed Wire"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Detention Camps"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Disappeared"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Human Rights"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Humanitarian Issue"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Sri Lanka"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Tamil Eelam"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Vanni Mission"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"War Crimes"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Sri Lanka: Inside the Manik Farm detention centre"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003Ch5\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.wsws.org\/articles\/2009\/jun2009\/slcm-j08.shtml\"\u003EWorld Socialist Website\u003C\/a\u003E By our correspondent\u003Cbr \/\u003E8 June 2009\u003C\/h5\u003E \u003Cp\u003E \u003C\/p\u003E \u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThe following report was provided by an elderly person who visited several relatives being held in one of the internment camps set up by Sri Lankan authorities to house nearly 300,000 civilians who fled during the final weeks of fighting between the army and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). \u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E \u003Cp\u003EManik Farm is about 30 kilometres from the northern town of Vavuniya. It is the biggest camp established by the army, housing more than 160,000 Tamil refugees. They fled from the last strip of territory held by the LTTE after facing constant shelling by the military. \u003C\/p\u003E \u003Cp\u003EOne reaches Manik Farm only after the harrowing process of passing through several army checkpoints. What one sees is a huge open prison with men, women, children, the elderly and the injured. It is behind barbed and razor wire fences and guarded by heavily armed security personnel. \u003C\/p\u003E \u003Cp\u003EThere are rows and rows of small tents or rooms made of aluminum seats or wooden planks. Basic facilities like water and sanitation are inadequate. At least two families live in each tent or room. When the wind blows or a vehicle passes by, people are showered with dust.\u003C\/p\u003E \u003Cp\u003EThere are four camps at Manik Farm: Ramanathan, Kadirgamar, Arunachalam and Anandakumaswamy. Each houses nearly 40,000 people. Armoured vehicles travel up and down the road near the camps frequently. People are not allowed to walk along the main road from one camp to another. They have to hire a three-wheeler taxi and pay 100 to 150 rupees for one or two kilometres. \u003C\/p\u003E \u003Cp\u003EVisitors have to walk through the barbed wire fences to an open space near the camp. Small huts act as waiting rooms. Hundreds of visitors are waiting to see their loved ones and there is not enough room in the huts. Many have to stand outside in the burning sun. There are no toilets. For drinking water there is a plastic water barrel in each hut. Outside there are small shops that serve tea and a few snacks. \u003C\/p\u003E \u003Cp\u003EThe police officers arrive after 9 a.m. to register your details, including your name and the unit number and block number of the detainee you are going to visit. Mobile phones and cameras are banned. You have to leave them at one of the shops. Some shopkeepers charge 50 rupees just to look after a mobile phone.\u003C\/p\u003E \u003Cp\u003EThere are several of my relatives in camps in Manik Farm. I first went to Ramanathan camp hoping to see one of my sisters and her sons. A Tamil-speaking man in civilian clothes arrived and started to collect the details of detainees each of us was going to visit. I gave my details to him. He abruptly said I couldn’t visit that day. They have allocated separate days for each camp. \u003C\/p\u003E \u003Cp\u003EAlthough I argued that I had come from Colombo, he told me that nothing could be done. He refused to let me speak to a senior officer to complain. I was compelled to abandon the idea of meeting my relatives there. Then I visited Kadirgamar camp and had to go through the same process. \u003C\/p\u003E \u003Cp\u003EThey called my brother but he was on the other side of a barbed wire fence. He was crying. I saw several persons crying after seeing their relatives. Some have been separated from their parents. Some have been separated from their spouses.\u003C\/p\u003E \u003Cp\u003EMeeting a relative is like speaking to a prisoner. You only get 15 to 30 minutes. The police on guard come to tell you when the time is up. No one gets more time. You can give basic gifts such as food and clothing but only after they are thoroughly checked. The police are checking all the time you are talking. \u003C\/p\u003E \u003Cp\u003EMy brother explained to me that because of the war he had to move from one place to another from mid-December. Finally they reached Mathala in the Mullaithivu coastal area. There were tens of thousands of people there. They did not have enough food and just had the clothes they arrived in. They kept running from one trench to another under the thunder of shelling. Many died. \u003C\/p\u003E \u003Cp\u003EFinally they decided to leave in April. They trekked about 8 kilometres. The army first tried to shoot them. Then they were asked to wait several hours. Thereafter the army took them to Manik Farm. For two weeks they were provided with pre-cooked food parcels. \u003C\/p\u003E \u003Cp\u003ENow they have been given 4 vessels and a few spoons to cook with. Each person receives 3 kilograms of rice, 3 kg of flour and 300 grams of sugar and a little dhal [lentils] for a month. The army has opened a few shops to sell vegetables and other food items. But without any money most people cannot buy anything. They cannot imagine eating vegetables and other food and have to live on what they are given. \u003C\/p\u003E \u003Cp\u003EDrinking water is supplied by lorries, but that too is not enough. There is a river running through the camp but with very little water to have a bath. People have no soap. The toilets are built with polythene or aluminum seats. However, there are not enough.\u003C\/p\u003E \u003Cp\u003ESoldiers or policemen in civilian clothes roam around the camp even checking the toilets. No one is allowed to even stand in the shade outside a hut. They are scolded and told to leave.\u003C\/p\u003E \u003Cp\u003EMost parents with teenagers never sleep at night because they are worried their sons and daughters will be abducted. The names of young people are often called out and they have to go to the office. The officials say they are being investigated. Some of them come back, others do not. Even the parents are not informed where they have been taken and why. \u003C\/p\u003E \u003Cp\u003EIt is a terrible situation.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"blogger-post-footer\"\u003ERaise your voice for the Tamils killed in Vanni Massacre! \nAct NOW to liberate the Tamil civilians from the barbed wire camps in Sri Lanka!\u003C\/div\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/vannimassacre.blogspot.com\/feeds\/2217331921191640665\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"https:\/\/vannimassacre.blogspot.com\/2009\/06\/sri-lanka-inside-manik-farm-detention.html#comment-form","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/4564570884155420964\/posts\/default\/2217331921191640665"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/4564570884155420964\/posts\/default\/2217331921191640665"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"https:\/\/vannimassacre.blogspot.com\/2009\/06\/sri-lanka-inside-manik-farm-detention.html","title":"Sri Lanka: Inside the Manik Farm detention centre"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"hr Alert"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/15745495003387147010"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"32","height":"28","src":"\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/img\/b\/R29vZ2xl\/AVvXsEicPjYmYc9kx_cWeQ1hpAS0N8jnhNUp2sAIO-Qd1DD15RBk8-RMME_FFs9rfmDm9btSkNruwV5paba4oQ05f0DzCd1VD1LOLvV8O8Xgz-DoiE10tBHK3yW_dGs_GCVWRw\/s220\/cry.jpg"}}],"thr$total":{"$t":"0"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4564570884155420964.post-2710804776066469531"},"published":{"$t":"2009-06-05T14:24:00.000-07:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2009-08-14T03:33:49.344-07:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Barbed Wire"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Detention Camps"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Disappeared"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Human Rights"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Sri Lanka"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Tamil Eelam"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"UN"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Vanni Massacre"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"War Crimes"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"China on the rise once more across the East"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight:bold;\"\u003EIf any more evidence of China's steady ascent towards Asian regional dominance was needed, the climax of Sri Lanka's war has provided the proof.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EBy David Blair, Diplomatic Editor\u003Cbr \/\u003EPublished: 7:22PM BST 19 May 2009\u003Cbr \/\u003ESource: \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/news\/worldnews\/asia\/china\/5350478\/China-on-the-rise-once-more-across-the-East.html\"\u003ETelegraph UK\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAn ally of Beijing has fought a bitterly controversial conflict to a final victory, while shrugging off international protests along the way. India, the other Asian giant, is only 50 miles from Sri Lanka across the waters of the Palk Straits, yet it has been shown to have far less influence on its neighbour than China.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThrough a combination of strategic investments in seaports and pipelines, along with direct financial and military support for friendly governments, China is building a web of influence across South Asia. Many of Beijing's immensely ambitious projects are years away from fruition, yet the repercussions of these ventures are already being felt.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIn Sri Lanka, Beijing began constructing a port in Hambantota in 2007 and the scheme is scheduled for completion in 2022. This forms the basis of China's alliance with President Mahinda Rajapaksa's government and helps explain the diplomatic support Beijing gave Sri Lanka during the war against the Tamil Tigers.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe official line is that Hambantota is only a \"commercial\" trading venture and the facility will handle civilian shipping and nothing else. \"Any attempt to distort the facts would be invalid,\" said Ma Zhaoxu, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EBut the appearance of a new Chinese port on Sri Lanka's southern coast would allow Beijing the option of using the facility as a naval base in the future. Other projects under way at strategic points across the Indian Ocean raise the same possibility.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EChina is building another port at Gwadar on the Pakistani coast and at Kyauk Phyu on Burma's island of Ramree. Taken together, these and other facilities may allow China to extend its growing naval strength well beyond its traditional coastal waters and into the Indian Ocean. It would mark a crucial stage in the country's rise to become Asia's hegemonic power.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\"China is marching towards regional dominance and that brings it into conflict with India on one flank and Japan on the other,\" said Kerry Brown, a senior fellow at the Asian programme of the Chatham House think tank. \"It will at some point become much more active as a military power in the region.\"\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EChina's ambitions are of deep concern to its Asian rivals, especially India which shares a 2,100-mile disputed border with its neighbour. Countries as far away as Australia have also shown they are worried. Kevin Rudd's government in Canberra is hugely expanding the Australian navy with the unspoken aim of balancing China's growing strength.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThese fears may, however, be exaggerated. China is bidding to become Asia's foremost power, but not a global behemoth to rival the United States. Moreover, all the evidence suggests that its prime aim is securing its economic growth and domestic stability.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\"The Chinese are not seeking conflict. They are seeking a stable international environment within which they can continue their economic development,\" said Mr Brown. \"The key imperative is to preserve internal security within China.\"\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThere is no sign of China becoming an overtly threatening, expansionist power. Far from having designs on other countries' territory, China has resolved all border disputes with 12 of its 14 neighbours. In the case of Russia, where the People's Liberation Army fought bloody frontier skirmishes in the 1960s, and Vietnam, where Chinese forces waged a full scale border war in 1979, Beijing chose to make big concessions and give away large areas it had previously claimed.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIf a future Chinese government decides to use the string of new ports as naval bases, this does not necessarily mean Beijing is out to intimidate its neighbours and overawe the region.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EInstead, China's economy is largely dependent on energy supplies brought from the Middle East and Africa along vital Indian Ocean shipping lanes. Guaranteeing the safety of these arteries is an understandable aim and does not, of itself, show an aggressive intention.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIn particular, China imports about 80 per cent of its oil through the Strait of Malacca, where the Indian Ocean joins the Pacific. President Hu Jintao has called this dependence the \"Malacca Dilemma\" and China's naval planning seems geared towards ensuring this passage remains open, while developing alternative routes where possible.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EWhatever the motives behind the inexorable extension of China's influence in Asia, however, the balance of global power has already changed dramatically.\u003Cdiv class=\"blogger-post-footer\"\u003ERaise your voice for the Tamils killed in Vanni Massacre! \nAct NOW to liberate the Tamil civilians from the barbed wire camps in Sri Lanka!\u003C\/div\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/vannimassacre.blogspot.com\/feeds\/2710804776066469531\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"https:\/\/vannimassacre.blogspot.com\/2009\/06\/china-on-rise-once-more-across-east.html#comment-form","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/4564570884155420964\/posts\/default\/2710804776066469531"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/4564570884155420964\/posts\/default\/2710804776066469531"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"https:\/\/vannimassacre.blogspot.com\/2009\/06\/china-on-rise-once-more-across-east.html","title":"China on the rise once more across the East"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"hr Alert"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/15745495003387147010"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"32","height":"28","src":"\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/img\/b\/R29vZ2xl\/AVvXsEicPjYmYc9kx_cWeQ1hpAS0N8jnhNUp2sAIO-Qd1DD15RBk8-RMME_FFs9rfmDm9btSkNruwV5paba4oQ05f0DzCd1VD1LOLvV8O8Xgz-DoiE10tBHK3yW_dGs_GCVWRw\/s220\/cry.jpg"}}],"thr$total":{"$t":"0"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4564570884155420964.post-960915399754862160"},"published":{"$t":"2009-06-05T13:50:00.000-07:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2009-08-14T03:33:27.634-07:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Barbed Wire"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Detention Camps"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Disappeared"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Human Rights"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Human Rights Council"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Sri Lanka"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Tamil Eelam"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"UN"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Vanni Massacre"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"War Crimes"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Genocide in Sri Lanka"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003Cdiv class=\"post-by\"\u003EJune 4th, 2009 Posted by: Suren Surendiran\u003Cbr \/\u003ESource: \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/blogs.reuters.com\/great-debate-uk\/author\/surensurendiran\/\"\u003EReuters\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003ESuren Surendiran is the spokesman for the British Tamils Forum. The opinions expressed are his own. -\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe news that over 20,000 innocent civilians were killed by the military onslaught of the Sri Lankan army has shocked the world, but not world leaders like President Obama, Prime Minister Brown, President Sarkozy and Chancellor Merkel. For, they knew exactly what was going to happen and what is happening now.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EHow right Albert Einstein was when he said, “The world is a dangerous place to live, not because of those who are evil but because of those who don’t do anything about it”.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E“When genocide is happening,” said candidate Obama, so eloquently during the second presidential debate, “when ethnic cleansing is happening somewhere around the world and we stand idly by, that diminishes us.”\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe United Nations has yet again proved under the current leadership, that it is an ineffective organisation in conflict resolution and prevention of genocide.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIt is a great shame for India to have had a hand in the mass killings of Tamils. The other countries that had helped Sri Lanka militarily do not have the best human rights record in the world and their moral values proved to be questionable. India produced the greatest of men on earth, the great Mahatma Gandhi.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe politicians who do not follow Gandhian principles are not worthy to hang his photograph in their place of work. Mahinda Rajapaksa has admitted that he fought India’s war, but as the Commander in Chief of the armed forces and Executive President of the country, he is the one who would be facing the War Crimes Tribunal, even if he pleads insanity.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe U.S., the EU and other forward thinking democracies, should use their financial leverage and force an independent investigation on the Sri Lankan government for war crimes. The resolution passed in the United Nations Human Rights Council on 27 May to allow Sri Lanka to investigate itself is a laughing matter.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe Sri Lankan economy is in the doldrums because of mismanagement, disproportionate military spend and corruption after Mahinda Rajapaksa’s government came into power.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe U.S. and Western governments, having stood idly by when the massacre of innocent civilians by the Sri Lankan State took place, could now show the world that they are taking some action against the perpetrators. This should take the form of punitive economic measures.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe U.S. Secretary of State has indicated that the IMF loan for nearly $2 billion would be stopped or delayed.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe EU is known to be considering the withdrawal of GSP Plus concession worth nearly $2 billion subject to investigation into Sri Lankan government’s human rights abuses. Economic sanctions and curtailment of bi-lateral trade should also play a part. The Commonwealth should suspend Sri Lanka’s membership subject to independent international investigation into war crimes.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ETamils in Sri Lanka have been discriminated by successive governments since independence in 1948. It is widely acknowledged that what is happening in Sri Lanka is genocide. The genocide of a people means that the security of those people cannot be left to the perpetrating government itself. It then follows that some form of separation and self determination for the Tamils in the long term is unavoidable.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIt is about time for those who said “never again” in Darfur, to take their “responsibility to protect” seriously and substantiate their words with immediate firm action.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EJustice delayed is justice denied!\u003Cdiv class=\"blogger-post-footer\"\u003ERaise your voice for the Tamils killed in Vanni Massacre! \nAct NOW to liberate the Tamil civilians from the barbed wire camps in Sri Lanka!\u003C\/div\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/vannimassacre.blogspot.com\/feeds\/960915399754862160\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"https:\/\/vannimassacre.blogspot.com\/2009\/06\/genocide-in-sri-lanka.html#comment-form","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/4564570884155420964\/posts\/default\/960915399754862160"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/4564570884155420964\/posts\/default\/960915399754862160"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"https:\/\/vannimassacre.blogspot.com\/2009\/06\/genocide-in-sri-lanka.html","title":"Genocide in Sri Lanka"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"hr Alert"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/15745495003387147010"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"32","height":"28","src":"\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/img\/b\/R29vZ2xl\/AVvXsEicPjYmYc9kx_cWeQ1hpAS0N8jnhNUp2sAIO-Qd1DD15RBk8-RMME_FFs9rfmDm9btSkNruwV5paba4oQ05f0DzCd1VD1LOLvV8O8Xgz-DoiE10tBHK3yW_dGs_GCVWRw\/s220\/cry.jpg"}}],"thr$total":{"$t":"0"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4564570884155420964.post-4894217211799997210"},"published":{"$t":"2009-06-02T05:46:00.000-07:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2009-08-14T03:35:33.003-07:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Barbed Wire"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Detention Camps"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Disappeared"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Human Rights"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Sri Lanka"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Tamil Eelam"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Vanni Massacre"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"War Crimes"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"In Sri Lanka 13,130 Missing IDPs Reported But Downplayed By UN, Journalist Beaten"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003Cp style=\"font-weight: normal; text-align: left;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-family:Times New Roman, serif;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size:100%;\"\u003EByline: Matthew Russell Lee of \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.innercitypress.com\/untrip3may3srilanka060209.html\"\u003EInner City Press\u003C\/a\u003E at the UN: \u003Ci\u003ENews Analysis\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E             \u003Cp style=\"font-weight: normal;\"\u003E\u003Cbig\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"color:#000000;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-family:Times New Roman, serif;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size:100%;\"\u003E\u003Cbig\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-family:times new roman, new york, times, serif;\"\u003EUNITED NATIONS, June 2 -- With the UN already under fire for withholding and downplaying the number of civilian casualties in Sri Lanka, another ongoing controversy has opened up concerning the number of internally displaced persons detained in the IDP camps in northern Sri Lanka. Between the May 27 and May 30 reports of the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, over 13,000 IDPs simply disappeared from the camps. \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/big\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E             \u003C\/big\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E             \u003Cp style=\"font-weight: normal;\"\u003E\u003Cbig\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"color:#000000;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;\"\u003E               \u003Cspan style=\"font-family:Times New Roman, serif;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size:100%;\"\u003E\u003Cbig\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-family:times new roman, new york, times, serif;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.humanitarianinfo.org\/srilanka_hpsl\/Files\/Situation%20Reports\/Emergency%20Situation%20Report\/LKRV019_OCHASituationReport_19SriLanka30May2009.pdf\"\u003EOCHA's May 30 report states\u003C\/a\u003E that \"276,785 persons crossed to the Government controlled areas from the conflict zone. This represents a decrease of 13,130 IDPs since the last report (Sitrep No.18) on 27 May 2009. The decrease is associated with double counting. Additional verification is required.\"\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/big\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/big\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E             \u003Cp style=\"font-weight: normal;\"\u003E\u003Cbig\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"color:#000000;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;\"\u003E               \u003Cspan style=\"font-family:Times New Roman, serif;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size:100%;\"\u003E\u003Cbig\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-family:times new roman, new york, times, serif;\"\u003EBut             \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.humanitarianinfo.org\/srilanka_hpsl\/Files\/Situation%20Reports\/Emergency%20Situation%20Report\/LKRV018_OCHASituationReport_18SriLanka27May2009.pdf\"\u003Eearlier, OCHA had praised\u003C\/a\u003E the \"improved, systematic registration being undertaken in the camps.\" \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/big\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E             \u003C\/big\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E             \u003Cp style=\"font-weight: normal;\"\u003E\u003Cbig\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"color:#000000;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;\"\u003E                \u003Cspan style=\"font-family:Times New Roman, serif;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size:100%;\"\u003E\u003Cbig\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-family:times new roman, new york, times, serif;\"\u003EUN sources in Colombo tell Inner City Press that senior UN officials above them, Sri Lankan nationals who are Sinhalese, are downplaying the 13,000 \"missing\" IDPs, which would otherwise be of much concern given the reports of disappearances from the camps, the seizing of teenage males for detention and females for other purposes, UK Channel 4 asserted with on camera interviews.\u003Cbr \/\u003E            \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/big\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/big\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E             \u003Cp style=\"font-weight: normal;\"\u003E\u003Cbig\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"color:#000000;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-family:Times New Roman, serif;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size:100%;\"\u003E\u003Cbig\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-family:times new roman, new york, times, serif;\"\u003E\u003Cimg style=\"width: 405px; height: 270px;\" alt=\"\" src=\"http:\/\/www.innercitypress.com\/icp1jhpascoe.jpg\" \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E            \u003Csmall\u003E\u003Csmall\u003EUN's Pascoe and Holmes, head of OCHA, questioned by Press, missing IDPs not shown\u003C\/small\u003E\u003C\/small\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E            \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/big\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/big\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E             \u003Cp style=\"font-weight: normal;\"\u003E\u003Cbig\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"color:#000000;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-family:Times New Roman, serif;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size:100%;\"\u003E\u003Cbig\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-family:times new roman, new york, times, serif;\"\u003E    These UN sources are surprised, since even Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is under fire for downplaying what has happened to the Tamils, that the UN would be so seemingly cavalier about 13,000 \"missing\" persons from almost entirely Tamil interment camps. \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/big\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E             \u003C\/big\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E             \u003Cp style=\"font-weight: normal;\"\u003E\u003Cbig\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"color:#000000;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;\"\u003E                \u003Cspan style=\"font-family:Times New Roman, serif;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size:100%;\"\u003E\u003Cbig\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-family:times new roman, new york, times, serif;\"\u003EMeanwhile, in further fall out, journalist Poddala Jayantha, secretary of the Sri Lanka Working Journalists' Association, was kidnapped near his home and severely beaten with sticks before being dumped in a suburb of Colombo. The government had accused him of being too sympathetic to the Tamil Tiger -- or just to the Tamils. The UN, too, has its different way of trying to crack down on journalists. Watch this site.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/big\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/big\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"blogger-post-footer\"\u003ERaise your voice for the Tamils killed in Vanni Massacre! \nAct NOW to liberate the Tamil civilians from the barbed wire camps in Sri Lanka!\u003C\/div\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/vannimassacre.blogspot.com\/feeds\/4894217211799997210\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"https:\/\/vannimassacre.blogspot.com\/2009\/06\/in-sri-lanka-13130-missing-idps.html#comment-form","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/4564570884155420964\/posts\/default\/4894217211799997210"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/4564570884155420964\/posts\/default\/4894217211799997210"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"https:\/\/vannimassacre.blogspot.com\/2009\/06\/in-sri-lanka-13130-missing-idps.html","title":"In Sri Lanka 13,130 Missing IDPs Reported But Downplayed By UN, Journalist Beaten"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"hr Alert"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/15745495003387147010"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"32","height":"28","src":"\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/img\/b\/R29vZ2xl\/AVvXsEicPjYmYc9kx_cWeQ1hpAS0N8jnhNUp2sAIO-Qd1DD15RBk8-RMME_FFs9rfmDm9btSkNruwV5paba4oQ05f0DzCd1VD1LOLvV8O8Xgz-DoiE10tBHK3yW_dGs_GCVWRw\/s220\/cry.jpg"}}],"thr$total":{"$t":"0"}}]}});