Sri Lanka: Welfare or War Crime

US unhappy over Sri Lanka's 'modest' progress in settling Tamils

The United States government has expressed its dissatisfaction over the progress made by Sri Lanka [ Images ] in rehabilitating the three lakh war-hit Sri Lankan Tamils living in detainee camps and in regard to reconciliation with the political parties of Tamils and Muslims in the country.

Assistant Secretary of State Robert Blake was outlining the government's policy on South Asia at the Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies at Maryland, US. [Read more-Rediff.com]

Toronto ~ University Ave.,

U.S. voices "grave concern" about Sri Lanka video

 

 U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice

By Louis Charbonneau

UNITED NATIONS, Sept 2 (Reuters) - The United States voiced grave concern on Wednesday about video footage that a Sri Lankan group says shows government soldiers summarily executing Tamil rebels in violation of international law.

"These reports are very disturbing, they are of grave concern," U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice told reporters. "We'd like more information as we formulate our own national response."

Rice was reacting to video footage aired last week on British television which, according to a Sri Lankan advocacy group, shows government forces executing unarmed, naked, bound and blindfolded Tamils during the army's final assault to smash Tamil Tiger rebels earlier this year.

The Sri Lankan government has dismissed the video as fake.

Rice, who holds the rotating presidency of the U.N. Security Council during the month of September, said it was not yet clear whether the council would take up the issue.

"I'm not aware of a council member proposing that this be discussed on the council agenda but obviously these reports are very fresh and that could change," she said.

Previous attempts to formally raise the issue of Sri Lanka's conduct during the final months of its 25-year war against the Tamil Tiger rebels met resistance from Russia and China, who opposed official council discussion of an issue they said was an internal matter for the Sri Lankan government.

Philip Alston, U.N. special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, said on Tuesday he hoped the United Nations would launch an investigation to determine whether Sri Lankan soldiers did in fact summarily execute Tamils, which would be a violation of international law.

Alston acknowledged there was no certainty the video was authentic. Britain's Channel 4 television said it got the footage from advocacy group Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka.

"There's nothing on the surface to indicate that it is not authentic and, if that's the case, it would raise very grave concerns," Alston told Reuters in an interview.

J.S. Tissainayagam, journalist lauded by Obama, is jailed in Sri Lanka

by Rhys Blakely in Mumbai

A Sri Lankan journalist described by President Obama as an “emblematic example” of an unjustly persecuted news reporter was sentenced to 20 years in prison yesterday under antiterror laws.

J. S. Tissainayagam, 45, was convicted under Sri Lanka’s Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) for writing two articles in the North Eastern Monthly magazine in 2006. The pieces were fiercely critical of the Sri Lankan Army’s conduct against the Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) — the terrorist group also known as the Tamil Tigers.

The Sri Lankan Government accused Mr Tissainayagam of taking money to spread Tiger propaganda in a case that the US Department of State said last year “appeared to be politically motivated”. [click to read the article in full~ on The Times UK]

Please gather in Washington DC, Aug 18, 2009

Sri Lanka knows the "propaganda war" has to be won in the United States....

Thats why GoSL hired Patton Boggs in Washington DC.

It's time to rally in the thousands to mark the 100th day of the Continued Tamil Awareness Rally in Washington DC on August 18th, 2009, and continue our campaign to bring the plight of our brethren to the attention of the world again.

Little drops of water...make the mighty ocean..Please click here to contribute to organize this rally, towards transportation costs from Toronto and Montreal to Washington DC.....

Please contribute via this secure Ilanakai Tamil Sangam ~ Sangam.org link, marked for this Rally, please do it today, and encourage your family and friends around the globe to do so...

Please pass this blog around...