Sri Lanka News Updates with Discussions

TRO Chief amd his wife arrested in USA..

do you care if the LTTE support Network in the UK goes down??.. Do you??..

Anyways.. How are you doing??.. hows the Mrs??.. Hows work??..

http://tinyurl.com/2kztxx

Not interested and will listen if someone reports..I will let it slide sir!!

we are all doing exceptionally well..Mrs is great and work is fine..

Human Rights, the West and NGO Mercenaries: An Exchange of opinions
International rights activist refutes Sri Lankan NGO allegations of servility

The international activist Jean-Pierre Page who is coauthor of, War in Yugoslavia: Preparatory Manipulations - Human Rights, Diplomacy, the KLA, has refuted allegations leveled against him of having a 'stooge state of mind' by Sri Lankan feminist and NGO activist Nimalka Fernando. Their email exchange is published below.

Nimalka Fernando who is the President of the International Movement Against All Forms of Discrimination and Racism (IMADR), recently resigned from the Advisory Committee to the Government of Sri Lanka on Human Rights.


Dear Madam Nimalka,
Reading your letter, I don't know whether to laugh or to cry! I find your tone quite pathetic! May I advise you to read my article at least once, twice, or as many times as necessary, because obviously you haven't read it at all or, if you had, you haven't understood a word of it! My article has nothing to do with the situation of human rights in Sri Lanka, but rather with the instrumentalisation of the United Nations by the US and its Western allies for their own strategic interests. These are different issues!

I note that you have not responded to ANY of the arguments that I have developed in the article. If you do not agree with my opinion - a position that I can fully respect - or with any of the facts that I have submitted, then you should be in a position to present counter-arguments. Such a debate would have been of benefit to all of us. The defense of human rights must be treated responsibly and not in a polemical fashion that will only lead inevitably to instrumentalisation of the victims. For my part, I refuse to take part in such an exercise! I would have thought that you shared this point of view.

I note that it has taken you more than one whole month to react! I wonder why?

I don't have pretensions to speak about human rights in Sri Lanka. Again, I would plead that you read my article before jumping to conclusions! I speak about Louise

Arbour! But, perhaps, THAT is your problem! If that is so, why don't you say so? Is it prohibited to speak of Louise Arbour and her diabolical project? Is it a subject that is reserved only for those you can agree with - whether or not they have visited Sri Lanka, let alone the North and East? Is this because you are part of the same network, share the same strategy, and benefit from the same donors? I recommend that you carefully read the article of Lewis Wordsmyth that appeared in newspapers internationally and was published in Sri Lanka under the title 'Louise Arbour's dangerous liaisons.'

Now, on another serious matter. I challenge you to publicly prove that the article was written out of a 'stooge state of mind to the present regime to get personal favours.' What 'personal favours' are you talking about? Do you understand that this is a very grave accusation that you are making? I am astonished that a person like you who claims to defend human rights, freedom of expression and international solidarity, can use arguments and language that are irrational, absurd, and even totalitarian! I don't even know what 'foreign woman' you are talking about! Why should I be 'jealous' about any 'foreign lady coming to Sri Lanka.' And, in any case, I don't know what all that has got to do with the United Nations!

My dear Nimalka, I seriously think that you should read and re-read MY ARTICLE and read and re-read YOUR REPLY, to see for yourself if you are making any sense to yourself!
And, then, what has all this got to do with Bernard Kouchner from whom you say I should get 'a good lesson'? Bernard Kouchner, the man that Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), has forbidden from using their name, is not the best reference for someone like you who claims to be 'left' or 'ultra left.' You also don't seem to be aware that Kouchner is an ardent supporter of the US-led war in Iraq, was the 'gauleiter' of Kosovo actively involved in the partition of Yugoslavia, and is now clamouring for war against Iran.

Did you know that, in exchange for a grand cheque from the 'freedom loving' transnational corporation, TOTAL, Kouchner wrote a report saying that there were no serious human rights violations in Myanmar? How can the Foreign Minister of the most pro-US and most pro-Israeli President that France has ever had, become my 'good' teacher?!

It is my ardent hope that when Kouchner visits Sri Lanka next January, you will not be charmed by his well-known arrogance! The peoples of Yugoslavia, Palestinine, Lebanon, Iraq, Afghanistan, the Chad, or Iran.... remember him for HIS message of HATRED and call for WAR & VIOLENCE, rather than for any message of peace!

In the name of democracy and transparency, I will ask that your letter and my response be published in the same newspapers and websites in which my article appeared. Like this, everybody will have the opportunity to appreciate the quality of your arguments and 'internationalism.'

For my part, I am wary of unilateral arguments! It is hard for me to understand how a human rights activist like you can speak of human rights violations by the Government and the Karuna group only, and conveniently ignore those committed by the LTTE and the support given by certain Western powers and their NGO mercenaries. You cannot be blind to the fact that the LTTE has physically eliminated large numbers of people who didn't share its views, starting with the Tamil people themselves. By being partial, you are not serving the interests of those people that you claim to defend! Is that your way of respecting people?

Finally, your letter convinces me that the defense of human rights is far too serious a matter to be left to amateurs, or worse, to those who make a very good living out of it! I'm sure that I will never ever receive an award from Human Rights Watch, but all things considered, I think it is better that way, because I can maintain my independence.

Jean-Pierre Page

Defence.lk