Thursday, September 27, 2018

DRAVIDA PERAVAI COMPLAINT TO INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT OF JUSTICE AGAINST TAMIL GENOCIDE




BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON TAMIL GENOCIDE : 2009

Since the security forces regained control over the Jaffna peninsula from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in late 1995 - early 1996, there have been continuing reports of arbitrary arrests and torture, including rape, and 'disappearances' in custody. In particular the number of’ disappearances' reported has been of serious concern. Amnesty International has so far submitted more than 200 cases of people who were seen taken into custody but whose detention was subsequently denied by the security forces to President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga. It has urged that an independent and impartial investigation be instituted to establish their fate or whereabouts. Local human rights organizations and Tamil members of parliament have also repeatedly brought cases of 'disappearances' to the attention of the President and other authorities.

 
Human rights agencies say safeguards in the law are being circumscribed

British Refugee Council Publication: Sri Lanka Monitor

"SUPREME COURT Judge ARB Amarasinghe says in a judgment that Sri Lankan authorities often breach laws and regulations relating to arrest and detention. The detention of Jaffna Tamil youth Vijayam Vimalendran for over three years was illegal the Court declared on 20 December and ordered Rs 25,000 compensation. Although Emergency regulations give wide powers to the security forces there must be adequate grounds for arrest. The Court says the Defense Secretary should have sufficient evidence before signing detention orders. Even those detained under Regulation 17 (i) as posing a threat to national security, should be informed of the reasons for arrest...

Human rights agencies say safeguards in the law are being circum- scribed by authorities. In the north-east arrested persons are held for 60 days under Emergency regulations and then under the Prevention of Terror- ism Act (PTA) which provides for 18 months detention without being produced before a court.

In southern areas, including Colombo, suspects are generally detained for seven days under Emergency regulations and then under the PTA on the orders of a magistrate. Agencies say such prolonged detentions are illegal. Twenty three prisoners in Kalutara prison for over two years allege that their detention is illegal and say they will fast unto death if they are not released before 19 January...

There is a fear in Colombo that military death squads have returned. Retired Tamil engineer Mahadeva was abducted in the dreaded "white van" on 25 December from his residence in Bambalapitiya..."

 
Torture - including electric shock, burning, beating on soles of feet, gasoline soaked bags over head...says US State Department Report

"Torture remained a serious problem... Members of the security forces continued to torture and mistreat detainees and other prisoners, both male and female, particularly during interrogation. Although the number of torture reports was somewhat lower than in previous years in the Colombo area, the situation in Eastern Province did not improve. Torture also emerged as a problem in the newly recaptured Jaffna Peninsula. In November a Supreme Court judge stated publicly that torture continued unabated in police stations in spite of a number of judicial pronouncements against its use. Pro-government Tamil militants in the east and north, directly responsible to the security forces, also engaged in torture...

"Methods of torture included electric shock, beatings (especially on the soles of the feet), suspension by the wrists or feet in contorted positions, burning, near drowning, placing of insecticide, chili powder, or gasoline-soaked bags over the head, and forced positions. Detainees have reported broken bones and other serious injuries as a result of their mistreatment..:' - U.S. Department of State, Sri Lanka Country Report on Human Rights Practices for 1996

"Sri Lanka's minority Tamil community on Saturday complained of human rights abuses as battles raged between the predominantly Sinhalese forces and Tamil Tiger rebels near a northern guerrilla stronghold. A pro-government Tamil party urged President Chandrika Kumaratunga to intervene and stop alleged human rights abuses against Tamils and make sure those detained by the army in the Tamil- dominated Jaffna area were tried fairly. ... Joseph Pararajasingham, parliamentary leader of the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF), wrote in the letter to President Chandrika Kumaratunga that 76 Tamils, mostly youths, were harassed by police after being arrested by the army. "The police have them in their custody for over three months, torture them and obtain confessions under duress," he said in the letter which was made available to journalists." - Reuter Report, 28 September 1996

"Torture of Tamils is now widespread in Sri Lankan-occupied parts of the northeast. In Valigamam district last week, Tamil inmates of the Navaly Pulavar refugee camp were taken away by soldiers to their army base. Witnesses say soldiers forced the young men to hold mouthfuls of stones while they were beaten senseless. A 21-year old, Rasiah Satheeswaran, died during his beating. Half of the refugees who were taken have been released, the other half are still in army custody. Relatives fear the worst.


Police powers promote torture says Colombo Judge
British Refugee Council Publication
Sri Lanka Monitor, November 1996

"Supreme Court Judge P Ramanathan says despite judicial orders against law-enforcement officers, torture in police stations continues unabated. Police have powers to record statements, investigate and prosecute offenders. The concentration of powers allows the police to take short-cuts by torture in custody, says Mr Ramanathan. Human rights agencies say prolonged detention also leads to ill-treatment. Currently there are over 1,100 Tamils in custody, 300 of whom are held for over two years. MPs who met detainees in Kalutara prison in early November say six Tamil youths are held for over five years and another six above the age of 50 are detained for over 18 months. Seven had been earlier re- leased, arrested again and held for over two years.

Over 100 Tamil prisoners in Kalutara began a fast on 28 November demanding trials or release. Following a fast protest by detainees in June, the De- fence Ministry promised to solve the issue within three months. Prisoners bitterly complain that the Ministry has failed to take any action. Lawyers say the Defense Ministry has failed to act on several recommendations for re- lease made by the Attorney General's Department.

Human rights agencies are concerned about illegal detentions. Some prisoners continue to languish in prison despite court orders for their release. In a habeas corpus application, Meenatchy Chitrasenan alleges that her daughter Thirumagal arrested in September is illegally detained in a police station without being produced before a court."


150 Tamil women and children raped by law enforcers last year say rights groups

“Human rights activists claim more than 150 women, mostly minority Tamils, were raped by police and armed forces personnel last year.

In the past few months the nation has been outraged by a series of sex offences, followed in some instances by the death or disappearance of victims. Security forces are allegedly behind the incidents, which are widespread in the war-ravaged north and east.

Rights groups and mainstream Tamil political parties are now up in arms over the alleged rape of five women by policemen in Colombo's suburbs. Politicians and rights agencies have made repeated demands for investigations of the large numbers of rapes allegedly committed by officials entrusted with enforcing law and order.

In one of the suburban rape cases, the victim, from the eastern Batticaloa district, had approached a reserve police constable for directions to a relative's home in Colombo.

The policeman accompanied the woman to her destination but then raped her in a lonely suburban thicket. At least 15 soldiers and policemen have been accused of rape since June last year."
- South China Morning Post January 11, 1997

"Amnesty International has documented several cases of rape by members of the security forces. Because many women are reluctant to give testimony about their treatment by the security forces, Amnesty International believes that these testimonies represent only a fraction of a widespread pattern of human rights violations. In those cases reported to Amnesty International, the authorities took some initial action against the alleged perpetrators. However, the organization does not know of any member of the security forces who has been brought to justice on charges of rape.

In January 1995, three women were reportedly raped by soldiers at Poomachcholai and Kayankaddu, Batticaloa district, in reprisal for an attack by the LTTE on the nearby army camp at Thandavanveli. In August 1995 Lakshmi Pillai was raped at her home in Trincomalee by two army informants in front of her two sons. The motive may have been revenge as she had spoken out about being raped before at Plantain Point army camp in August 1993. The informants were arrested but later released on bail pending trial.

On 7 March 1996, a 45-year-old woman was raped by soldiers at Thiyavedduwan checkpoint. Her husband was beaten with rifle butts. Both were admitted to Valaichchenai hospital. Following a complaint by several people of Thiyavedduwan at Valaichchenai army camp, an identification parade was held and the soldiers were identified and taken into custody by the military police. It is not known whether any further action has been taken against them."

- Amnesty International Report, September 1996


Para Military Groups torture & execute Tamils

Shadowy Tamil militant death squads are once again on the rise in Batticaloa. The Mohan group aligned to PLOTE has terrorized Batticaloa for several years and has been linked to former intelligence officer Richard Dias alias Captain Munas, implicated in the disappearance of 158 Tamils from the Vantharumoolai refugee camp in 1990. The Raziq group associated with EPRLF has recently surfaced. Observers believe EPRLF, which kept aloof from military activities for several years, has decided to throw in its lot after the fall of Jaffna and the apparent weakening of the LTITE. The Tamil militant cadres ostensibly provide translation service to the military and act as scouts and spotters during security operations. Both EPRLF and PLOTE deny that they have links with death squads. But reports from Batticaloa say these two groups are involved in detention, torture and execution of people suspected of links with the LTTE.

Observers say that at least ten incidents of torture and execution in the last three months are known to human rights groups.

- Sri Lanka Monitor, published by British Refugee Council, June 1996

 
Rapes and Murders in Occupied Jaffna

"Allegations of ill-treatment of women and extra-judicial executions are also being made against the security forces. Reports say that three women were raped by soldiers at their home in Manthuvil on 1 August."

-          British Refugee Council Publication, Sri Lanka Monitor, August 1996
-           
"Vanni MP S Shanmugnathan says number of women at the Poonthottam school camp have been sexually abused by the police. A woman who was raped has been admitted to the Vavuniya hospital. Pregnant women have been denied access to the hospital and one woman has died in labour"

-British Refugee Council Publication, Sri Lanka Monitor, November 1996

"Of the numerous arrests, rapes and murders of the girls and boys in Jaffna, one comes to light. Most, however, go unreported because the Sri Lankan army bans independent reporters from traveling to the peninsula, and the government censors news about conditions in Jaffna.

On Saturday Sep. 7, 1996, Krishanthi Kumarasamy, an 18 year old student at Chundikuli Girls' High School went missing, soon after she had taken her first paper at the GCE A/L examination. She was seen by a number of witnesses being taken into custody by Sinhalese army personnel at the Kaithady checkpoint, and she disappeared soon after.

According to a report published later in the Sri Lanka Sunday Times (Nov 3, 1996), "She was stopped at the checkpoint and three soldiers allegedly raped her until she fell unconscious. When she revived, according to the confessions, police officers and six soldiers further raped her."

On learning of Krishanthi's detention at the army check-point, her mother, Rasamma (59), who was the vice principal of Kaithady Maha Vithyalayam, accompanied by her son, Pranaban (16), and a neighbor, Kirupakaran Sithamparam (35), went to the army camp, and then they too disappeared. The same Sri Lanka Sunday Times report said, "Her journey was not only futile but she, her son and neighbor were strangled, cut into pieces and buried in a little hut within the gates of the arm camp." y Krishanthi's relatives in Colombo, including her older sister, Prashanthi (21), who was staying in Colombo at that time, took up the matter with authorities in Colombo, including President Kumaratunga, but nothing was done as the army headquarters denied the arrests.

On Sep 20th, Amnesty International published an Urgent Action Appeal (UA 222/96), and even at this stage the government remained silent.

On Oct 23, more than 6 weeks after their disappearances, the Colombo-based Tamil daily Virakesari published the story. Although none of the other newspapers published it, things began to heat up. The matter was raised in Parliament, and all of a sudden the four bodies buried in a shallow grave within the army camp were found.

Tip of an iceberg? Tamil Voice has information that these kinds of atrocities are quite rampant in the Jaffna peninsula, and in other Tamil areas occupied by the Sri Lankan army. This is not an isolated incident... The reason for lack of publicity is the unofficial ban on independent reporters and human rights organizations from visiting these areas... A recent Asia Watch report said, "The army only permits access to the state run media." Foreign humanitarian organizations that are allowed to function in these areas are ones who (by charter) do not publish such crimes. They consider such silence necessary for them to be able to carry out their primary humanitarian work.

News pertaining to large scale violations, such as those in the peninsula, however, is difficult to conceal. A Tamil Voice editor had an opportunity to meet with a number of new refugees who had escaped recently to Tamil Nadu by boat. He reports that, their accounts are "horror stories from hell."

A large number of Tamil men and women are reportedly being held in the Kankesanthurai police premises in the army-held Jaffna peninsula. They are reported to have been arrested between 30 Mar 96 and 29 Aug 96. The Government Agent of the army occupied Jaffna peninsula published a list of names and details of only 135 Tamils, out of the 740 who the armed forces admitted to holding at the Kankesanthurai police station. He has also reported that nearly a hundred Tamil girls are missing. Several incidents of rapes and molestations were also reported.

"On Sep 30 at about 3.20 PM Velauthapillai Rajani, 22, from Urumpirai North was arrested in Kondavil-Urumpirai Road by the Sri Lankan army. This arrest was seen by several people. Rajani, who was planning to leave to Canada, went to see her relatives in Kondavil to say good-bye. On her way she was stopped by the Sri Lankan soldiers manning the

Kondavil checkpoint and was dragged into a house where two elderly people were living. The soldiers chased the two occupants out of the house and Rajani was raped. Her naked body was found later in the compound."

Another report stated, "Vasuki, a young Tamil girl living in Kilner Lane was harassed by Sri Lankan soldiers from the army camp next to her house. On Sep 8, Vasuki was watching TV at her home between 11 PM and 12 PM at night when 4 Sri Lankan soldiers in civil dress and 2 soldiers in army uniform came into her house and tried to take her away by force. She and her neighbors raised cries and the soldiers fled with Vasuki's National Identity card."

"On Saturday morning August 7, a Sri Lankan military truck rammed into a group of school girls who were cycling to the Examination hall for their GCE (A/L) examinations. Nineteen year old, Thayananthi Kananathan from Ariyalai, a student of Chundukuli Girls College was killed on the spot."

"On Sep 10, a 55 year old woman employed in the Thirunelvely Co-operative Milk Society was gang-raped by Sri Lankan Army personnel." "In Kachchai a husband who tried to prevent the rape of his wife was cut to death. His wife was also murdered later."

These are just a few of the hundreds of incidents reported to Tamil Voice. The rape and murder of Krishanthi is just one of them.

(Tamil Voice, published by the US Based llankai Thamil Sangam, Fall 1996, edited by Dr.Rajan Sriskandarajah M.D.)

WE ARE PREPARING A DETAILED COMPLAINT WHICH WILL BE MAILED SHORTLY. THIS COMPLAINT QUOTES UN AGENCIES, MEDIA, JUDGES, VICTIMS, AND OTHER REPORTS. ALL THESE REPORTS MUST BE TRACKED CONSTRUCTING A CLEAR CUT CHARGE SHEET.OUR INTENTION IS ONLY TO DRAW YOUR ATTENTION TO THE GRAVITY OF THE CRIME, WE ARE URGING THE OFFICE OF THE PUBLIC PROSECUTOR TO PROBE FURTHER.

Prof. Boyle of University of Illinois College of Law and an expert in International Law, pointed out that "under Chapter XV of the United Nations Charter, the U.N. Secretariat, headed-up by the U.N. Secretary General, is one of six independent organs of the United Nations Organization itself. As such the U.N. Secretary General is obligated to implement the "Purposes of the United Nations" set forth in Article 1 of the Charter.

"Article 1(3) of the Charter provides that one of these "Purposes of the United Nations" is: "To achieve international co-operation in solving international problems of an economic, social, cultural or humanitarian character, and in promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language or religion."

Boyle added, "In other words, the U.N. Secretary General has a U.N. Charter obligation "in promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for" the Tamils in Sri Lanka as required by the preemptory norm of international law set forth in Article I of the 1948 Genocide Convention.


Francis Boyle, professor of International Law at the University of Illinois College of Law, called on India, the United States, Britain and France to fulfill their obligations under the Geneva Conventions and Protocol, and under the Genocide Convention by launching an immediate humanitarian air-drop relief operation for the starving Tamil civilians within the so-called safety zone, who are suffering without adequate humanitarian supplies for weeks.

Starvation of civilians, as a method of warfare, can also constitute an act of genocide as defined by Article II (c) of the 1948 Genocide Convention. Though timely action in this direction did not arrive at least in post-conflict period International Court of Criminal Justice must charge sheet Srilankan President Mr.Mahinda Rajapakshe for starving Tamils to death and stalling UN to rescue Tamils from starvation.

 "Article 54(1) of Additional Protocol I to the Four Geneva Conventions of 1949 sets forth a rule of customary international humanitarian law that obligates every state in the world: "Starvation of civilians as a method of warfare is prohibited." Starvation of civilians as a method of warfare is a war crime. Every contracting party to the Geneva Conventions and Protocol has the obligation under Common Article 1 thereof "to respect" the Conventions and Protocol themselves and "to ensure respect" for the Conventions and Protocol "in all circumstances" by other contracting parties such as Sri Lanka.

"Furthermore, starvation of civilians as a method of warfare can also constitute an act of genocide as defined by Article II (c) of the 1948 Genocide Convention: "Deliberately inflicting on the group {in this case Tamils} conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part." Every contracting state party to the Genocide Convention has the obligation "to prevent" genocide by Sri Lanka against the Tamils as required by Article I thereof.
  
HENCE DRAVIDA PERAVAI URGES THE OFFICE OF THE PUBLIC PROSECUTOR TO PROBE THE DEATH OF TAMIL CIVILIANS DUE TO STARVATION IN THE WAR ZONE AND FIX SRILANKAN PRESIDENT ON THIS CRIME ALSO.
  
Statement by Ambassador Susan E. Rice, U.S. Permanent Representative, on the Situation in Sri Lanka, in Security Council Consultations

April 30, 2009

The United States is deeply concerned by the situation in Sri Lanka, where fighting between government forces and the Tamil Tigers has led to a growing and grave humanitarian crisis that has left innocent civilians pinned down and desperate. We are very concerned by the serious allegations against both parties of violations of international humanitarian law.

Despite the Government of Sri Lanka’s promise to suspend combat operations, multiple accounts indicate that shelling into the conflict zone continues. We have also received reports of alarming number of civilian casualties.

On April 28, limited quantities of food were delivered to the conflict zone—the first such delivery in more than three weeks. We welcome the arrival of this sorely needed aid, but we are deeply concerned that critical medicines were not able to reach the conflict area as well.

We share Under-Secretary-General Holmes’ disappointment that the Government of Sri Lanka has not yet allowed a UN humanitarian team into the conflict zone to facilitate relief operations and the safe evacuation of civilians. We urge the Sri Lankan government to reconsider. This Council must also grapple with the sheer scope of the problem. Latest reports indicate that more than 170,000 displaced persons have registered in government-controlled camps. The Government of Sri Lanka must allow the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross access to all sites where newly arrived displaced persons are being registered or being provided shelter.

These reports pertain to the period of war without witness. Now since Srilankan Government had declared war is over immediately UN agencies must step in and Office of the Public Prosecutor starts its investigations before all bodies are exhumed and all people are silenced at gun point.
  
INDEPENDENT MEDIA
INDICTS ARMS SUPPLIERS;

Chinese F7s and Russian MIG fighters fly over the skies of Vanni continuously and they regularly bomb hospitals, schools, churches and orphanages. Cluster bombs and phosphorous bombs are used against innocent Tamil civilians. Children are dying in front of their parents and the parents are dying in front of their children. Many of the dead have nobody to mourn for them. More than eight thousand innocent Tamils have been killed just within the last three months. Tamils are now left with nothing. All their homes and farm lands have been made into grave yards. Many families have lost their loved ones. Thousands of orphans and widows are longing for death than suffering from hunger and untreated wounds in the killing fields of Sri Lanka. They have no more comforters left to comfort the victims.

As part of the so called deceptive humanitarian and rescue operation, Sri Lankan forces surrounded an area that is almost two times bigger than Singapore, bombed and destroyed all the hospitals, schools, orphanages and homes in this prosperous land that was once flowing with milk and honey.

They destroyed farms, fruit trees and the cattle belonging to the people who have lived there for years. They dropped cluster bombs and killed so many thousands of innocent people including children, women and old people.

They have forced people into starvation and made them to live in tents and bunkers for months. All this is according to them for just to catch or kill few hundreds LTTE fighters that were living among more than three hundred thousands of innocent Tamil civilians.

Tamils are persecuted all over Sri Lanka

Tamils who are forced to live in the open fields are bombed and killed in thousands. Those who leave the war zone are sent to barbed wired concentration camps and torture camps. The ones that live in the other parts of the country live in open prisons with the constant fear of abductions, extra-judicial killings, torture and rape.

World very well knows how the Sri Lankan soldiers were asked to leave Haiti after they were blamed for rape, while doing peace keeping operations as part of the UN force.

There are many peace loving Sinhalese people living in Sri Lanka. Several academics, human rights activists, journalists, Christian leaders and professionals from the Sinhalese community are supporting the Tamils in their struggle for freedom. Some Tamils even tend to intermarry with the Sinhalese.

Although the extremists are only a minority among the Sinhalese, they have been successful in influencing politicians, military leaders and ordinary Sinhalese people to incite racial hatred, violence and discrimination against Tamils.

In recent times, China has been actively involved in building ports in the South East Asian countries including Sri Lanka. China is spending 1 billion dollars to construct a port in the south of Sri Lanka.

China is planning use this port as a refueling and docking station for its navy, as it patrols the Indian Ocean and protects China’s supplies of Saudi oil. Ever since Sri Lanka agreed to the plan, in March 2007, China has given it all the aid, arms and diplomatic support it needs to defeat the Tamils, without worrying about the West.

China has so far given six F7 jet fighters free of charge, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. Pakistan is also trying to spread its influence in the Indian Ocean and in order to build a launch pad in Sri Lanka.Pakistan has transferred huge amounts of automatic rifles, heavy mortars, multi-barrel rocket launchers, and artillery and tank shells to Sri Lanka in recent years. Sri Lanka is also getting JY-11 3D air surveillance radars, armored personnel carriers, T-56 assault rifles, machine guns, anti-aircraft guns, rocket-propelled grenade launchers, missiles and bombs Iran provides low-interest credit to Sri Lanka to help them to purchase military equipment from Pakistan and China and to train Sri Lankan Army and intelligence officers in Iran.

 India never wanted to supply offensive weapons to Sri Lanka which is the very reason why the Sri Lankan government went after China, Pakistan and Iran in the first place. Having 65 millions Tamils in India, it will be difficult for India to give offensive weapons to kill the Tamils in Sri Lanka. However, India faces a real threat from China and Pakistan in its own backyard. Sri Lanka has always maintained good relations with India.

In order to look after its interests in the region and to deal with the threats from China, India had come up with the clever idea of providing with intelligence and military expertise to Sri Lanka.Many Sri Lankan ministers have recently acknowledged that they wouldn't be winning the war without the help from India.

This is not because India hates the Tamils and loves the Sinhalese but they are not ready to see Sri Lanka going into the hands of China and Pakistan. More than seven hundred Indian fishermen were killed by the Sri Lankan Navy within the last few years but India is willing to sacrifice even their own for a greater gain in the region.

India is a looser. India has made a historical blunder by assisting the Sri Lankan government to commit genocide against Tamils. Once the war is over, Sri Lankan government will go after China and Pakistan as they did before. India has now lost credibility both among the Tamils in Sri Lanka and India. India would have been in a better position if they helped the Tamils to establish a prosperous secular state in order to free them from State oppression and to secure Indian strategic interests in the region. Even now, it is not too late for India to change it's mind.

When the twin towers fell and the innocents died, we declared war on Terror. We have done the right thing and we have been successful in preventing many disasters in our great cities. Unfortunately, some of the countries that have been terrorizing their minorities for a long time have started to use the loop holes in the "War on Terror" strategy to declare war on the vulnerable.

Theory of War on Terror has failed miserably in countries like Sri Lanka because the oppressor has got the freedom to declare war on the innocents who are already going through hell in their hands. Many freedom movements that have been fighting for the freedom of the oppressed are now wrongly branded as Terrorists groups. Some of these countries like Sri Lanka have been spending so much money in doing false propaganda, to convince the world that these freedom movements had links with Al Qaeda. War on Terror is a great idea but the problems come when we wrongly recognize the Terrorists and the ones who are fighting the Terrorists. When the “War on Terror” strategy is used by a Terror government that is already killing its own citizens, alarms should be raised to protect the vulnerable.

Did we permit Saddam Hussain who was a democratically elected president to wipe out all the Kurdish people? Hitler was democratically elected but he was still responsible for killing millions of Jews. Rajapakse government, although it is democratically elected, shouldn't be allowed to use the “War on Terror” agenda to annihilate Tamils.

UK government would never bomb the whole city of Belfast and force people to live in the bunkers without food and medicine for months, if they had to catch few hundreds of IRA rebels. They wouldn't use chemical weapons against innocent women and children unless they had a hidden agenda of killing the people.

Sri Lanka is doing something what no other governments on this earth would do for their own citizens.

As usual, UN has so far failed to protect the innocents. They failed in Rwanda and they failed in many other countries where millions died of man made disasters. They always waited till it was too late to act. UN had sent it's representatives to Sri Lanka few times in the last few months ,but they couldn't convince the Sri Lankan authorities to stop the war.UK and the US are working really hard to bring the Sri Lankan issue before the security council. China, being a permanent member is not allowing the war in Sri Lanka to be discussed for an obvious reason that they are also partnering with Sri Lanka. They don't want to be blamed for fuelling the war in this tiny island by freely supplying offensive weapons in order look after their own interests in the region.

RichardDixons@googlemail.com

We thank the Journalist Mr.Richard Dixon for above mentioned report
 Sri Lanka acquired ‘banned’ weapons

 Monday, 13 August 2001,

The Sri Lanka Army has acquired an infantry weapon with a chemical warhead whose use has been shunned internationally except by Russia due to the risk to civilians, press reports said this weekend. In an expose, the Sunday Leader said that the SLA had spent several million dollars to acquire 1000 units of the shoulder-fired RPO-A Shmel Rocket Launcher, but that amidst bribes sought by the SLA commander, Lt. General Lionel Ballagalle, the weapons delivered were of old stock and may have exceeded their shelf life. The US Defense Intelligence Agency says the weapon’s chemical warhead is toxic and hence dangerous even if it fails to detonate.

The flamethrower type weapon, which the Sunday Leader says has been banned by the United States is only manufactured by a single firm in Russia and was bought by the SLA via a London-based company, Gladstone Industrial Holdings, whose directors include a retired SLA officer, Lt. Col. Upali Gajanayake. The Sunday Leader interviewed the latter as part of its investigation into the alleged corruption.

“It is an internationally banned weapon,” Lt. Col. Gajanayake told the Sunday Leader, explaining why the SLA needed to go through his firm, rather than directly to sole Russian manufacturer, to acquire the Shmels. “Officially these items cannot be negotiated via an open tender but can only be bought underground; this is a very sophisticated chemical warhead.”

Although usually referred to in descriptive literature as a flame-thrower, the RPO-A Shmel (Bumblebee in Russian) is a rocket-propelled incendiary/blast projectile launcher, according to Janes’ weapons expert Terry Gander. “One projectile fired is described by the Russians as `thermo baric' as it appears to utilize advanced fuel-air explosive techniques which, on detonation, create deflagration as the warhead cloud expands,” says Gander. When utilized against structures the blast effect of the projectile is stated to be equivalent to a 122 mm howitzer shell, he says.

The weapon – along with other fuel air mixture weapons - has been used by Russian troops in Chechnya, where human rights groups have long criticized the indiscriminate nature of the weapon which has resulted in heavy civilian casualties and horrific injuries.

In a statement February 2000 on the use of such weapons in Chechnya, Human Rights Watch said “The use of fuel-air explosives … represents a dangerous escalation in the Chechnya conflict--one with important humanitarian implications.” In urban settings it is very difficult to limit the effect of this weapon to combatants, and the nature of FAE explosions makes it virtually impossible for civilians to take shelter from their destructive effect,” HRW said, adding that “because they are wide-area weapons, military forces must exercise extreme caution and refrain from using them in or near population centers.”

The U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency in a 1993 report says, “The [blast] mechanism against living targets is … unpleasant… If the fuel deflagrates but does not detonate, victims will be severely burned and will probably also inhale the burning fuel. Since the most common FAE fuels are highly toxic, un-detonated FAE should prove as lethal to people caught within the cloud as most chemical agents”

A separate Central Intelligence Agency report says “it is possible that victims of FAE’s are not rendered unconscious by the blast, but instead suffer for several seconds or minutes while they suffocate.”

One thousand RPO-A Shmels were delivered to the SLA in a single planeload on July 17, the Sunday Leader claimed, adding that the colleague of Gajanayake, Ameer Temour, who negotiated the deal with a Ukrainian arms supplier was fired on July 17. Temour told the paper that Gajanayake had submitted expenses claim of nearly half a million US dollars which were bribes for Ballagalle and other senior SLA officers.

Whilst the SLA had expected to take delivery of 1000 brand new warheads, the paper claims the batch delivered comprised 400 manufactured in 1989 and 600 in 1991. The weapon expires after 10 years. The sole manufacture is KBC Instrument Design Bureau in Tula, Russia.

“The age of the delivered units explains how Gladstone was able to negotiate the supply and export the items without contravening any rights the manufacturing company in Russia held to be the sole authority to supply the brand new item,” the paper said.

Read this
WEAPONS BOUGHT in 2001 used in 2009

Colombo uses chemical weapons

Tuesday, 07 April 2009,

Sri Lanka Army extensively used chemical weapons on LTTE combatants at Puthukkudiyiruppu (PTK) during the weekend, according to Lawrence, a senior commander of the LTTE, who personally encountered the attack and escaped, LTTE sources told TamilNet Tuesday. Meanwhile, Sri Lankan Defense Ministry has claimed that it has killed hundreds of Tiger combatants including senior commanders in PTK last weekend. The use of chemical weapons were the suspicion of many who have seen the photographs released by the SL Defense Ministry, but now the accusation comes from the LTTE. The Tiger sources neither confirmed the type of the chemical weapon nor said anything on the casualties claimed by Colombo.

Not matching with their tall claims, Colombo's websites have released comparatively fewer photographs of LTTE combatants it killed in action this time. Yet, the released photographs were enough for viewers of forensic experience to suspect the use of chemical weapons. Chemical weapons such as nerve gas were strictly prohibited by international conventions after world experiencing gruesome mass deaths of combatants during the World War I (1914 - 1919). Colombo government was already on record for clandestine purchase of prohibited chemical weapons and accessories in 2001.

Colombo government, its president Mahinda Rajapaksa as Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the defense secretary and Sarath Fonseka, the army chief, may have to face indictment as serious war criminals if the accusation of the use of chemical weapons is proved.

 UN withheld civilian casualty figures – report

Wednesday, 18 March 2009,

Publishing two leaked documents by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at the UN, in an exclusive report on Wednesday revealed that the United Nations office had its own estimates of casualty figures. The UN had internal documentation for 9,924 civilian casualties including 2,683 killings and 7,241 injuries since 20 January to 07 March 2009. "Now it appears that unlike in other conflicts from Darfur to Gaza, the UN withheld the Sri Lanka figures, in effect protecting the Sri Lankan government from criticism," the Inner City Press reported Wednesday

UN document: Civilian casualties in the Vanni (courtesy: Inner City Press)

"Between January and 12 February, the reporting network was spread over a broad area. Since most civilians are now in the small No Fire Zone (NFZ), including the reporting network - the information is better. The assumption is that the casualties were greatly under-reported prior to 12 February," said the UN document which put the total minimum number of documented civilian casualties since 20 January 2009 as of 07 March 2009 in the conflict area of Mullaiththeevu district: 9,924 people including 2,683 deaths and 7,241 injuries.

Between January and February 2009 the combat area was reduced from 100 square km to 45 square km, including the NFZ of 14 square km. As the combat area reduces, the daily average shows an increase in the number of killed (from 33 to 63) and a slight decrease in the number of injured (from 184 to 145). This is due to increased density, the use of heavy weapons which continue to strike the NFZ and inadequate medical treatment.

Two thirds of the documented casualties occurred in the No Fire Zone (NFZ), according to the UN report obtained by the Inner City Press.

It is not humanly possible for the Tamil Diaspora or Indian Tamils to collect each and every detail concerning the genocide; hence there is historical necessity for the Office of the Public Prosecutor to start the probe to establish the guilt of the perpetrators of Tamil Genocide. Hence Dravida Peravai, the Indian political party of socialists, appeals to the International Court of Justice for justice. In pursuit of justice we had earlier made our appeal to the current month’s President of the United Nations Security Council and the General Secretary of the United Nations marking copies to the Representatives of the Member Nations in Security Council. We have urged the Security Council to forward our complaint to you, which we are sending you in the form of a book.

This is our first attempt to reach your office, and we have just tried to give supportive evidences to make your mind arrive at the circumstantial evidences to come to the conclusion to launch a probe against Srilankan President Mr.Mahinda Rajapakshe and others for their Tamil genocide.

 Thanking You
Yours sincerely
  
N.Nandhivarman
General Secretary Dravida Peravai India.

Date: 20.05.2009

  

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