Daily HR Brief - War Without Witness in Sri Lanka

Tamil refugees ‘questioned by Sri Lankan officials’

ANDRA JACKSON January 9, 2010
SRI Lankan embassy officials and naval officers have been allowed to question Tamil asylum seekers held in Indonesia, refugee advocates have claimed.Those allegedly questioned include eight asylum seekers who had been trying to reach Australia when they were intercepted by Indonesia at Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s request. One of the officials was Captain Kapil of the Sri Lankan embassy in Jakarta, Australian refugee advocate Saradha Nathan said last night.

UK target War Criminals – news

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Israeli veterans cancel UK trip on arrest fear
By Tobias Buck in Jerusalem
Published: January 5 2010 18:21
Relations between Israel and Britain took a turn for the worse on Tuesday after it emerged that a group of senior Israeli soldiers had cancelled a trip to the UK over fears they may be arrested for alleged war crimes. Danny Ayalon, Israel’s deputy foreign minister, described the situation as “impossible”, and warned that “this will make it difficult for the two countries to maintain a normal relationship”. He added that developments influencing Israelis to stop visiting Britain were damaging to UK interests as well.

Deeming Sri Lanka execution video authentic, UN expert calls for war crimes probe

7 January 2010 – An independent United Nations human rights expert said today there are strong indications that the video of alleged extrajudicial executions by Sri Lankan soldiers that aired last August on British television is authentic, and called for an inquiry into possible war crimes committed during the conflict with Tamil rebels. Philip Alston, the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, commissioned three experts in forensic pathology, forensic video analysis, and firearm evidence to examine the video, after concluding that the investigations carried out by the Government had not been thorough or impartial.

Sri Lankan guards ‘sexually abused girls’ in Tamil refugee camp – Guardian,UK

A British medic held for months in an internment camp for Tamil civilians has revealed how military guards dealt out cruel punishments, while many suspected of links to Tiger rebels were taken away and have not been seen since.
Gethin Chamberlain The Observer, Sunday 20 December 2009

Sri Lankan war crimes video is authentic, Times investigation finds

The Times December 15, 2009
Video footage that appears to show Sri Lankan troops committing war crimes by summarily executing captured Tamil Tiger fighters on the battlefield was not fabricated, as claimed by the Sri Lankan Government, an investigation by The Times has found.The findings come after General Sarath Fonseka, the former head of the army, alleged that Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, the Defence Minister, had ordered that surrendering Tiger leaders be killed rather than taken prisoner in the final days of the brutal 26-year civil war that ended in May.

Gothabaya Rajapaksa issued illegal orders to General Shavendra Silva to kill surrendering LTTE carders

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Clarification By General Sarath Fonseka On Our Lead Story On December 13

“As Commander of the Army during the final stages of the war, I did not receive any communication that some LTTE leaders were planning or wanting to surrender.I was not told at any stage they wanted to do so and that some kind of an agreement had been reached that they must come out carrying pieces of white cloth.

Australian Citizen Dr Palitha Kohona implicated in Sri Lankan War Crime

“Dr Kohona is a dual Australian-Sri Lankan citizen. The fact that he is an Australian citizen automatically activates obligations for Australia to investigate this matter at the legal level, but the fact that he was a former high-profile official for the Australian Government representing Australia in international negotiations, I think perhaps places an even stronger responsibility on Australia to at least conduct the initial investigations into this matter,”
– Don Rothwell, Professor of international law at the Australian National University

Former Army commander General Sarath Fonseka implicate Gotabhaya Rajapakse on War Crime

“..Gotapaya Rajapakse spoke with the “commander of the army’s 58th division, giving orders not to accommodate any LTTE (Tiger) leaders attempting to surrender and that they must all be killed”, Fonseka said…”

Sri Lanka: 34 journalists and media workers killed during Rajapaksa brothers regime

APRIL 2004 – MARCH 2O09

2004

1. Aiyathurai A. Nadesan – Journalist / 31 May

2. Kandaswamy Aiyer Balanadaraj – Writer / 16 August

3. Lanka Jayasundera – Photo journalist/ 11 December

Sri Lanka: IMF Should Not Condone Abuses – Human Rights Watch

July 22, 2009
(New York) – Members of the International Monetary Fund should insist that the government of Sri Lanka address significant post-conflict human rights abuses as part of the approval for a US$2.5 billion stand-by loan, Human Rights Watch said today. The IMF board is expected to vote on the stand-by arrangement on July 24, 2009. The proposed loan has created intense controversy because of concern over Sri Lanka’s serious violations of international humanitarian and human rights law.