யாழ் திரைகடலோடி

Despite government claims of peace, torture and abductions continue to be used to stifle ethnic and political dissent. The civil war in Sri Lanka ended in 2009 with the victory of President Rajapaksa's forces over the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), but there are claims that abduction, torture and even rape of suspected former fighters or sympathisers continues today. In November 2013, Commonwealth leaders, including British Prime Minister David Cameron, converged on Colombo for the bi-annual heads of government meeting. It was a big moment for Sri Lanka, signalling its emergence from post-war turmoil and acceptance as a functioning democratic state …

Pope Francis Offers Hopeful Christmas Day Message From St. Peter's VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis offered Christmas wishes Wednesday for a better world, praying for protection for Christians under attack, battered women and trafficked children, peace in the Middle East and Africa, and dignity for refugees fleeing misery and conflict around the globe. Francis delivered the traditional "Urbi et Orbi" (Latin for "to the city and to the world") speech from the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica to more than 70,000 cheering tourists, pilgrims and Romans in the square below. In his first Christmas message since being elected pontiff in March, he…

We had a systemic failure in SL-UN Dy Chief The United Nations said that it had a systemic failure of the UN system in Sri Lanka as a whole. Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson briefing journalists in New York about the new “Rights up Front” initiative said: “You may recall in the IRP [internal Review Panel] Report on Sri Lanka, that we had a systemic failure of the UN system as a whole and that we need to show greater flexibilities and come up with speedier action.” Mr. Eliasson stressed, echoing his remarks to an informal meeting of the General Assembly earlier this week. There, he told delegations that the Panel’s report, issued last year, also concluded th…

Hizbullah Engaged in Direct Contacts with CIA, Pentagon إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية The U.S. Department of Defense and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) are engaged in direct and indirect contacts with Hizbullah, al-Joumhouria newspaper reported on Friday. According to the report, the talks focus on several aspects and include the Islamist movement Hamas. However, information received by LBCI ruled out the report, saying it was not true. In November, the U.S. embassy in Lebanon denied a report by the Kuwaiti al-Anbaa newspaper saying that U.S. officials have been involved in talks with Hizbullah. "No official at the embassy has or is engaged in discussion with…

US responsible for Lanka's successive UNHRC defeat: Peiris PRINT FONT SIZE Colombo: Some countries had to support the UN resolutions against Sri Lanka over its human rights records due to factors which affected their bilateral relationship with the US, External affairs minister GL Peiris said today. Answering an opposition query, Peiris said, “Some of the countries privately told us that they had to support the resolutions against Sri Lanka as there were factors which affected their bilateral relationship with the US,” Peiris said. The opposition legislator Sajith Premadasa asked Peiris the reasons why Sri Lanka had lost two successive UNHRC r…

செய்திகள் ( சிங்களத்தில்) http://youtu.be/TKo4GTQHIO4

23 November 2013 The intelligence operatives of the occupying Sri Lankan military have threatened Tamil Catholic priests in Mannaar and Jaffna, who have been active in exposing the genocide of Eezham Tamils by the Sri Lankan State. The threats against the priests in escalated following the visit by UN Human Rights Commissioner for Human Rights and have topped after British PM visited North on 15 November. The Catholic priests were active in exposing the recent genocidal experiment of birth control carried out by the Sri Lankan authorities and the priests joined the peaceful march by the kith and kin of the missing persons when they wanted to berate their plight to the…

Cave People of the Himalaya http://youtu.be/P48sGP48GKI

More than 11,000 children have died in Syria's civil war in nearly three years, including hundreds targeted by snipers, a new report says. Summary executions and torture have also been used against children as young as one, the London-based Oxford Research Group think tank says. The report says the majority of children have been killed by bombs or shells in their own neighbourhoods. It wants fighters trained in how not to put civilians' lives at risk. Analysis Lyse Doucet Chief international correspondent This report is the first major examination of how children are being killed in Syria. It confirms what has long been regarded as one of the …

ஹிந்தியில் no fire zone பற்றிய செய்தியை பார்த்ததால் இணைக்கிறேன். google translate இல் translate செய்து அதையும் கீழே இணைத்துள்ளேன். रूपा झा बीबीसी संवाददाता 18 नवंबर, 2013 "नो फ़ायर ज़ोन" एक विवादित फ़िल्म है. यह तमिलों के ख़िलाफ़ युद्ध अपराध में श्रीलंका सरकार का बहीखाता पेश करती है. श्रीलंका सरकार ने फ़िल्म के दावों पर सवाल उठाए हैं. पिछले दिनों दिल्ली में इस फ़िल्म का प्रदर्शन रखा गया था. इसके लिए फ़िल्म निर्देशक कैलम मैकरे ने भारत आने के लिए दो बार वीज़ा मांगा, लेकिन उन्हें नहीं मिला. कैलम को इसका अफ़सोस है. उनको लगता है कि श्रीलंका सरकार के दबाव में भारत उनको वीज़ा नहीं दे रहा है. लंदन से उन्होंने बीबीसी संवाददाता रूपा झा से बात की. आपकी फ़िल्म "नो…

23 November 2013 An acclaimed Tamil writer Shanmugampillai Jayapalan has been arrested and detained by Sri Lankan police on Friday (22) while he was on his way to pay homage to his mother at her graveyard in the former war-zone of Wanni. Reports from Jaffna say that the 69-year old Tamil scholar, who is now a Norwegian citizen, has visited Jaffna during the second week of November after seven long years. As a Tamil literary stalwart, he was interviewed by Tamil newspapers in Jaffna and was warmly welcomed by his community. Photographs of him, addressing the media in Jaffna on his latest work in the field of literature, art and South Indian Kollywood film indu…

22 November 2013 Khuram Shaikh was killed while on holiday in Tangalle in 2011 The news a trial date has been set for six men charged over the murder of a British aid worker in Sri Lanka has been welcomed by the victim's MP. Red Cross worker Khuram Shaikh, from Rochdale in Greater Manchester, was shot and stabbed on holiday in 2011. Rochdale MP Simon Danczuk said it was "encouraging" in a case which was a "test of Sri Lanka's credibility". He said he had been told six men, including a Sri Lankan politician, were expected to go on trial on 2 December. They have been accused of offences including murder, possessing unlawful weapons and the rape of …

23 November 2013 By Frances Harrison There are reports that the Sri Lankan security forces have been detaining and questioning Tamils who gave interviews to the British media covering the Commonwealth meeting in the island last week. In other cases family members of those who gave interviews or helped the media have been threatened and intimidated. The victims do not want publicity for their individual cases for fear of further retaliation but the intimidation has involved threatening phone calls, security forces turning up at people’s homes, as well as visits to children’s schools, work places and detention for hours of questioning. This is in additio…

Cdn Tamil Congress ‏@ctconline 1h We took part in TVO's #videoblog on @TheAgenda by @DanielKitts: #SriLanka and Canada's #Tamils. http://theagenda.tvo.org/blog/agenda-blogs/sri-lanka-and-canadas-tamils … #CHOGM #humanrights (twitter) 15 ஆம் திகதி செய்தியில் வந்திருந்தாலும் இன்றுதான் கண்ணில் பட்டது. இணைக்கிறேன். November 15, 2013 All this week The Agenda has been exploring the situation in Sri Lanka in the lead-up to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Colombo from November 15 to 17. Today's Sri Lanka is in large part defined by ethnic tensions between the country's Sinhalese majority and Tamil minority that resulted in ci…

It is such a horribly familiar scene in Beirut – the shattered glass, the row of burnt-out vehicles, the balcony with a bright green toy car left after the family rushed out after the blast. A thin youth in a blood-spattered blue shirt was wandering around looking for his brother. A thick-set man with greying hair told me that his co-worker’s two sons were at the hospital undergoing operations, but he had no idea where his colleague was. Red Crescent ambulances ferried away the injured, while police taped off the scene for forensics experts. Every car bomb brings back memories of Beirut in the 1980s when Sunni, Shia, Druze and Maronite fought each other in a civil war…

Responding to the bombing outside Iran's embassy in Beirut, former foreign secretary David Miliband tells Channel 4 News: "We have seen the overt export of the Syrian civil war into Lebanon." http://www.channel4.com/news/syria-lebanon-bomb-civil-war-david-miliband-interview-video

Sri Lanka's main opposition party, the United National Party (UNP), once again reiterated their unwillingness to co-operate with an international inquiry into war crimes, on Monday. Stating that the government's LLRC was adequate enough to deal with the allegatios, the UNP general secretary, Tissa Attanayake stated, "We are opposed to any international inquiry. That has been our position". UNP united with government against foreign intervention – Premadasa (17 November 2013) http://www.tamilguardian.com/article.asp?articleid=9278&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

David Cameron has defended his decision to attend the Commonwealth summit in Sri Lanka, saying his duty was to "deal with, not ignore" controversial issues. In a statement to Parliament, the prime minister said a process of "justice, closure and healing" was needed in the country after decades of civil war. Sri Lanka must begin an inquiry into alleged war crimes by March or face international intervention, he said. But Ed Miliband said the UK government "could not let the matter rest". The Labour leader questioned whether Mr Cameron had been right to attend after a boycott by the Canadian and Indian leaders. He suggested the final communique of the sum…

IMPHAL: Nine people - eight Border Roads Task Force (BRTF) workers and a girl child - were injured on Monday in a powerful bomb blast triggered by suspected rebels in Manipur, officials said. The blast took place in Ukhrul district, when a BRTF truck was carrying an unknown number of people, including the nine injured. "Eight BRTF workers and the six-year-old daughter of the BRTF driver were injured when a powerful bomb planted on the road exploded," Manipur police chief MKDas said. Of the nine injured, the condition of three people, including the girl and her father, the truck driver, is critical. The three have been rushed to the Regional Institute of Medical Sc…

China has called on Sri Lanka to “make efforts to protect and promote human rights”, amid continuing debate over the island nation’s hosting of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM). While calling on other countries to “provide constructive assistance”, the Chinese government, which has in the past been among Sri Lanka’s strongest supporters against the international community’s criticism following the end of the war, said it was important for Sri Lanka to protect human rights. “This is an issue within the Commonwealth, but at the same time I believe that on the human rights issue, dialogue and communication should be enhanced among countries,” Fore…

18/11/2013 David Cameron has been urged to investigate why the Tory Party took over £420,000 from the telecoms group Lycamobile, which has close links to Sri Lanka's controversial President Mahinda Rajapaksa. Labour MP Tom Blenkinsop told the Huffington Post UK: "The Prime Minister knows his party has received over £420k from a company closely associated with the Sri Lankan regime. He was obviously so concerned that his own MPs were recently prevented from visiting there. The MP, who has written directly to the Prime Minister, added: "So in the interests of transparency I want to know if the Prime Minister is going to investigate why his party has received over £420k…

CHENNAI: Nobody can deny the efforts British Prime Minister David Cameron has taken to put Sri Lanka on notice over genocide and war crimes, Union shipping minister GK Vasan said. The Congress minister from Tamil Nadu applauded Cameron's visit to Colombo for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meet (CHOGM) at a function in Chennai on Monday. On Thursday, Cameron, whose decision to attend the summit was criticised, has promised to highlight human rights abuses in the island nation. It was described as an "extraordinary visit" to the war-affected areas, which also made him the first world leader to travel to the Tamil-dominated northern regions of Sri Lanka after indepen…

Canada was clear – staging a Commonwealth leaders’ summit in Sri Lanka would be a very bad idea. The Canadians argued strongly against it, eventually deciding to boycott it altogether, and threatening a significant withdrawal of funding from the Commonwealth secretariat. After all it was only last March that the Queen signed the Commonwealth charter committing the organisation to respecting human rights; good governance; democracy; and respect for the rule of law. Selecting a country whose government has been in spectacular breach of each of these commitments to host the first summit after the signing of the charter was bound to leave a strong stench of hypocrisy hanging …

17 November 2013 Citing the recent elections to the Northern Provincial Council (NPC) and projecting it as a signal of Colombo beginning to deliver something, there was an effort to make many countries attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM). To convince the heads of governments not to hesitate attending CHOGM, a message was also passed to the effect that the NPC Chief Minister would be invited to the meet. Had the Indian Prime Minister attended the CHOGM, coupled with this propaganda, the Tamil question would have been endorsed as an internal affair of Sri Lanka. But, this didn't happen, thanks to the non-attendance by the Indian PM, said Gaj…

Frances Harrison ‏@francesharris0n 51m Dr Varatharajah - brave #tamil gvt dr in #srilanka warzone - says #lka gvt forced him 2 lie afterwards http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=36833 (twitter) இணைப்பு முழுமையாக... Colombo forced Tamil doctors to lie: Dr. Varatharajah 18 November 2013 Former Regional Director of Health Services (RDHS) for Mullaiththeevu, Dr. Thurairajah Varatharajah, currently in exile in the U.S, says in video documentary aired in India's NewsX TV station that Colombo, after keeping him and four other doctors in prison at the end of the war, forced the doctors to lie to foreign media and to the Organizations accusin…