Army of Sri Lanka : “Sri Lanka is one country in the world that has no terrorist threat” - by Major General (Retd.) Lalin Fernando (04.09.2010 - Asian Tribune)
Over
one year has passed since the epic and annihilating victory of the SL
Forces over the most bestial and formidable terrorists the world has
ever known. While gratefully remembering those who sacrificed their
lives in the struggle and the innocents who were killed, thankfully
peace prevails everywhere.
Peace reigns
There is a wonderful sense of freedom and a complete absence of fear and
dread amongst the public after 30 interminable years. No longer will
brave soldiers and innocent citizens die in the wake of that scourge.
Sadly there has also been a very unfortunate even grievous parting of
the ways amongst the architects of the victory that ended the terrible
menace that afflicted the country. This article is limited only to
suggestions on how the Army could exploit its proved potential to serve
the country even better.
Threat
The army must ensure that the threat of insurgency, guerilla warfare
terrorism and sabotage which afflicted the nation at least 3 times
(1971, 1980-2010 and 1988/9) is never again allowed to resurface.
Neither must conditions be created for outside interference and
involvement as in 1987 or the politically forced induction of
potentially lethal CFAs that the forces despite misgivings were
compelled to accept by base politicians. There are today even more
powerful western oriented foreign elements backed by local 5th columns
mounting new threats. ..................................>>
US Congressmen war crimes allegation petition : Sri Lanka’s dismal failure in public diplomacy - Daya Gamage – US National Correspondent Asian Tribune (31.08.2010 - Asiantribune.com)
Washington, D.C. :
If Asian Tribune reveals to you that one of the signatories to the 9
August (2010) ‘war crimes’ petition forwarded to Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton by 57 US Congressmen did not have the faintest idea of
Pol/Mil developments in Sri Lanka during its battle against separatist
Tamil Tigers and the resultant scenario something is wrong somewhere in
Sri Lanka’s overseas public diplomacy and strategic communication which
is most vital at this state to combat vicious global propaganda against
it.
The seriousness is that the organizers of this petition harnessed the
ignorance of this Congresswoman to sign it on the pretext of promoting
human rights in a Third World nation which happened to be Sri Lanka
which is battling misinterpretations, blatant lies, misrepresentations
and half-truths arising out of its battle against the separatist Tamil
Tigers and resultant human rights, crimes against humanity, war crimes
and genocide issues. .............................>>
Bravery of soldiers helped prevent holocaust of 300,000 civilians – Jayantha Dhanapala (25.08.2010 - info.gov.lk)
• Former UN Diplomat calls for new protocol to safeguard armed forces fighting terrorism
Retired UN Diplomat Jayantha Dhanapala said the Sri Lankan armed forces
took major risks to avoid a holocaust of 300,000 Tamil civilian deaths
in the last stages of the fight against terrorism when the LTTE kept the
civilians as a human shield. Making a submission at the Lessons Learnt
and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) at the Lakshman Kadirgamar
Institute of International Relations and Strategic Studies, he said the
tragedy would have reached an alarming level if the forces had not
exercised restraint in attacks in order to avoid civilian casualties.
Dhanapala, former Chairman of the United Nations Disarmament Committee
said that the international community should adopt a new protocol to
deal with the armed forces battling terrorism spearheaded by non-state
actors. ................................>>
Gov. committed to provide opportunities for all – Prof. Rajiva Wijesinha, MP (23.08.2010 14:50 SLT - info.gov.lk)
‘Evidenced by infrastructural development & targeted investment’
Rapid infrastructural development, accompanied by strategies for
targeted investment, has made clear the commitment of government to
ensuring better opportunities for all, stated Prof. Rajiva Wijesinha, MP
at the Public Sitting of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation
Commission held at the Lakshman Kadiragmar institute today (23 August
2010).
We need to ensure that human resource development parallels the
tremendous achievements with regard to physical development. We need
also to ensure greater integration of people in the context of equity.
Finally we need to develop confidence in government through ensuring
constant consultation and respect for different perspectives, he
stressed. ................................>>
UK Exporting terror - by Ben Silva (17.08.2010 - Email)
Attention of Hon. David Cameron,
Prime Minister, UK
I am glad that Hon. David Cameron, PM, is taking terrorism seriously and
credit should be given to him for recognizing that terrorism could be
exported. As decent humans we should take all practical measures to
eliminate terrorism from the world and concentrate on solving problems,
to help all humankind. The present UK government is bravely tackling
problems facing UK. In contrast, Mr Milliband of the previous labor
government, actually made a shameful attempt to give a lifeline to the
terrorists and have been exporting terror. If Mr Milliband had his way,
there would still be killings in Sri Lanka. Since the defeat of
terrorism, there has not been a single bomb or killing by terrorists and
this alone justifies GOSL action. In fact Mr Milliband attempted to
lead Sri Lanka into a death trap. ...............................>>
US State Department-funded AFL-CIO’s ‘Solidarity Center’ enters Sri Lanka Destabilization process - by Daya Gamage –Asian Tribune Investigative Analysis (15.08.2010 - Asiantribune.com)
Washington, D.C. :
United States Embassy, Colombo, Public Affairs Counselor Jeff Anderson
acknowledging June 30 the receipt of a petition from America’s most
powerful and influential workers federation AFL-CIO (American Federation
of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organization) to investigate
workers’ rights in Sri Lanka linking it to the US Generalized System of
Preferences (GSP) in which Sri Lanka receive favorable trade concessions
on exports to the US said “is an issue about worker’s rights and not
human rights.”
Despite Mr. Anderson’s assurance it is clear that Sri Lanka's overall
rights record is under scrutiny by the State Department. Its Office of
War Crimes Issues late last year issued a scathing attack on Sri Lanka
accusing this South Asian nation, which successfully eradicated Tamil
Tiger (LTTE) terrorism internally, of war crimes, human rights abuses,
war atrocities and even genocide in the final five months (January
through May 2009) of the battle. ...............................>>
Child recruiters & their patrons (13.08.2010 07:32 PM SLT - The Island, SL Editorial)
Former
Chairperson of the National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) Dr.
Hiranthi Wijemanne, testifying before the Lessons Learnt Commission on
Thursday, said that the international community had missed an
opportunity to save child combatants. Since the end of war, she said,
there had not been a single instance of child recruitment.
That the LTTE forcibly recruited thousands of children and most parents
were compelled to stop sending their precious offspring to school in the
North and the East for fear of abductions by LTTE child recruiters on
the way is only too well known. The CFA came as a godsend for the
outfit; it enabled Prabhakaran to expand his child grabbing operations
to the areas under the government control on the flimsy pretext of doing
political work. ...............................>>
Reconciliation Commission launched its public sittings to explore ways to prevent recurrence of ethnic conflicts in Sri Lanka (12.08.2010 - Asiantribune.com)
Colombo :
People of this country have gone through a traumatic nightmare and have
vanquished the most ruthless terrorist organization in the world. Sri
Lankan forces had vanquished the LTTE over a year ago and now their
primary concern was to consolidate the military victory through
reconciliation, stated Chairman of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation
Commission, Mr. C. R. de Silva at the first Public Sitting of the
Commission.
The first Public Sitting of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation
Commission was held on Wednesday morning, 11 August, at the Lakshman
Kadirgamar Institute for International Relations and Strategic Studies.
This was the first sitting of the commission and it was inaugurated with
the reading the Warrant given by President to the Commission, in all
three languages, lighting of the traditional oil lamp by the
Commissioners and an inaugural speech by the Chairman. ................................>>
Sri Lanka War Crimes/Tamil Issue hit US State Department again - by Daya Gamage – US National Correspondent Asian Tribune (13.08.2010 - Asiantribune.com)
Washington, D.C. :
While 57 US Congressmen sent a letter to the Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton expressing doubt about Sri Lanka’s accountability on alleged
human rights violations during the final months of the battle against
separatist Tamil Tigers last year, the congressional letter figured in
the media briefing at the State Department Thursday August 12 while a
question about Sri Lankan Tamil refugees sailing toward Canada.
Meanwhile the Government of Sri Lanka after a lapse of eleven months
issued a statement regarding the August 2009 "Report to Congress on
measures taken by the Government of Sri Lanka and international bodies
to investigate incidents during the recent conflict in Sri Lanka, and
evaluating the effectiveness of such efforts" by the Office of War
Crimes Issues of the State Department issued by Ambassador Stephen Rapp. ................................>>
