Sri Lanka News Updates with Discussions

Jayawardene and Moody on ICC's cricket committee
Tue May 15, 2007 6:45PM BST

MUMBAI, India (Reuters) - Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene and their former coach Tom Moody were named on the International Cricket Council's (ICC) newly constituted cricket committee on Tuesday.

'The new structure is designed to be representative of all interests in the modern game,' an ICC statement said.

The previous structure was made up of nominated representatives from each of the full members (boards and players) and leading associates.

Umpire of the Year Simon Taufel, former Australia captain Mark Taylor and ex-West Indies fast bowler Michael Holding are also part of the 13-member committee, which will be headed by former India skipper Sunil Gavaskar.

'The game of cricket now has at its disposal a group of outstanding cricket brains covering all aspects of the game and with their collective input we will be able to ensure that, moving forward, a strong sport is able to grow even stronger,' ICC chief executive officer Malcolm Speed said in a statement.

Children malnourished in Jaffna

By Shezna Shums

More than 185 children are severely malnourished in the north according to the Deputy Provincial Director of Health Services.

These children are from areas in Kopay and Kayts health divisions, and were registered with the community level Nutrition Rehabilitation Programme (NRP).

It was also highlighted that a further 9,510 children between the ages of six months to five years, from seven health divisions registered with the community level NRP, are being given High Energy Biscuits by the Public Health Midwives. UNICEF has also airlifted 77 boxes of a milk based food supplement to combat malnutrition while a nutrition rehabilitation programme implemented by Deputy Provincial Director of Health Services is also being carried out.

According to the Inter-Agency Standing Committee Team situation report, in April, the World Food Programme (WFP) issued two weeks food for 120,000 vulnerable beneficiaries consisting of a total of 39,000 families under the Vulnerable Group Feeding programme. Beneficiaries will receive food supplies for a period of 12 weeks.

However, the allocation is 15 kg of food per person per month.

In the Districts of Vavuniya and Mannar high energy biscuits were distributed to pregnant mothers and children.

Supplementary food and fresh food rations in the Kiliveddy Transit Sites are not systematically distributed to IDPs who remain displaced near their places of origin.

These IDPs are unable to return home and it is difficult to coordinate food supplies for them as they are dispersed in a number of villages.

Meanwhile in the Batticaloa District, WFP continues to assist 72 percent or about a 100,000 persons of the total IDP population in the district, with basic food rations while NGOs cover 18 per cent of the total.

The Government is providing some food rations to IDPs with host families.

There are still significant gaps in the district as 10 per cent of the IDPs or about 13,000 people are not receiving food supplies regularly.

Responding to a request by the World Food Programme, the ICRC has begun providing 750 tonnes of rice to feed more than 120,000 displaced people in Eastern Sri Lanka for one month.

The rice will be delivered in stages during the month of May.

About 600 tonnes will be distributed to 100,000 people in Batticaloa district and the remainder to 24,000 people in the Trincomalee district.

WFP is currently distributing two weeks dry rations for the period May 7-20 amounting to a total of 700 metric tonnes for 100,000 IDPs.

It was also stated that there are a further 187 malnourished children out of 4,780 children who have been identified and registered under the programme to get Ready-to-Use-Therapeutic-Food by UNICEF.

Due to considerable increase of IDPs in the four divisions of Thirukkovil, Kalmunai (Tamil), Navithanvely and Alayadivembu, it was agreed to provide 15 days ration instead of a monthly ration, twice a month.

However, the Divisional Secretaries face difficulty preparing Social Service Department forms for food distribution twice a month.

In addition, due to the security situation and tension in some areas of Thirukkovil, Damana, Lahugala and Navithanvely divisions, School Feeding programme activities have been interrupted or stopped.

HRC member and former Supreme Court judge Dharmasiri Jayawickrama told the media that these children, whose parents had feared that they would be abducted by the LTTE,

by end March the HRC has received 147 complaints against militant groups and political parties for abducting children. Of these 71 has been against the Karuna group while 66 are against the LTTE and 10 against the EPDP

Karuna ? the ?War Lord? of Sri Lanka

By Easwaran Rutnam

A search on the Wikipedia internet encyclopedia refers to Sri Lanka together with Somalia, Afghanistan, Chechnya, Burma, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Pakistan as countries where warlords are active.

As one diplomatic here who wished to remain anonymous put it ?As soon as you allow militias to work you contribute to the creation of war lords.? And if more ?warlords? begin to surface as a result of the freedom given to Karuna Amman it might eventually pose an even greater threat than terrorism.

Who is a ?warlord?? A warlord is a person with power who has de facto military control of a subnational area due to armed forces loyal to the warlord and not to a central authority.

Karuna and his operations fit well into that mould.

Over the weekend Karuna Amman had patched up his differences with Pillayan, the intelligence leader of the Karuna faction following a split, which some alleged have been orchestrated by the military in order to have control over the group.

However during the split there were reports of cadres loyal to either side being killed as a result of the internal rift which threatened to spill over into another factional war. It was believed that the degree of violence had made a third party, intent on eliminating the terrorist threat posed by the LTTE with the help of Karuna faction, intervene at this point to douse the fire.

The question however is what guarantee is there that a similar split will not occur in the future ? or even worse. Also what guarantee does the government have that the Karuna faction will not turn its guns on the military if or when the LTTE is demilitarized, if that ever takes place.

A report by the SLMM released following the Geneva peace talks last year said the only clearly identified armed group operating in government controlled areas is the Karuna faction and their political front TMVP which, contrary to the government commitment, became even more visible in government controlled areas in the East.

?There are a number of indications that the government is actively supporting the Karuna group. Known Karuna supporters have been seen moving to and from army camps, and it is evident that the security forces and police in some areas are not taking action to prevent armed elements from operating? said the report.

The University Teachers for Human Rights (UTHR) noted in a report earlier this year that the Karuna who earlier abducted children on behalf of the LTTE, is now doing it with equal zeal with government connivance for its own survival and to fight its parent.

?Kiran is now almost empty of young men. Armed Karuna cadres with government connivance have been breaking into houses and taking children without concern for age. Parents who were threatened to hand over their children have sent them to other villages and are begging children?s homes run by religious organisations to take them in.?

The UTHR further says that it appears that the government is bent on holding provincial council elections in the East to install Karuna by hook or crook. Some argue that this is the Chechnyan solution!

The government however insists it has absolutely no connection with the Karuna outfit and publicly assured any abuses committed by the group in government controlled areas will not go unpunished. Karuna himself has consistently refuted allegations of either working with the government or committing serious rights abuses and blames the LTTE or its own ?rotten eggs? for the violence.

According to the senior legal advisor of the New York based Human Rights Watch (HRW), James Ross, the HRW research in Sri Lanka, particularly but not limited to the child soldier issue, showed strong connections at least at the local level between the Karuna group and government military and police forces.

?Hopefully the Sri Lankan government will finally realize that it cannot keep distancing itself from Karuna group abuses. But clearly the problems persist and the international community should be thinking of more effective action -- whether that is steps against the Karuna group itself, or by weighing in more directly with Colombo,? Ross told the Daily Mirror.

The argument whether Karuna operates with or without the support of the government will continue for time to come despite the comments and ?credible evidence? on the subject by various organizations and now even foreign governments.

But the fact remains Karuna cadres are operating with weapons in the country, they have been seen in government controlled areas with guns in their hands (a weekend newspaper two weeks ago had a photograph of an armed Karuna cadre in Pottuvil), they have child soldiers, commit human rights abuses and basically do everything the LTTE does except target government troops.

An analytical report by a NGO operating in the eastern province has this to say on the threat Karuna could pose in the future ??a more dangerous long term cost for the military is if the risk of Karuna turning against them materializes .

At this point he shall not only become a formidable opponent to the LTTE but could also become an adversary to the military. If that happens the military will be forced to fight two wars ? against the LTTE and the TMVP.?

Earlier this year the Kattankudy police received twelve complaints against Karuna in one single day and the Daily Mirror reported that top police officials in Batticaloa had sent a report to the Police Head Quarters in Colombo detailing the threats posed by Karuna to the security of the area. ?Well they have been responsible for the same atrocities against civilians as the LTTE has been blamed for.

Their tactics in spite of what they say have not changed. They operate like war lords or criminal gangs...roam around freely, abduct people and children, extort business, are believed to be behind assassinations in their attempts to try and eliminate anyone deemed close with the Vanni cadres.

Of course their target has not been government of Sri Lanka,? a former cease fire monitor told the Daily Mirror on the condition of anonymity.

??the group has assumed a larger role in the East calling for people to look at them as the watchdog of the rules of law exercising the same tactics over the people as the LTTE so people will not dare stand up to them without risking their lives.

I see no difference between the workings of the Karunas and the LTTE to be perfectly honest. What is worse is that the Karuna faction can do this quietly without the government tampering.?

In fact the SLMM actually once prevented an abduction by Karuna group taking place some time late last year. The monitors on the occasion got news of something dodgy and was by chance in the area where an abduction was about to take place and literally stopped some people from being taken away by the Karuna faction.

The question to ask is then why is the international community not listing the Karuna faction or imposing travel bans as it has done to the LTTE if they are committing the same terrorist acts.

When the same question was posed to the US Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher at a press briefing last week he responded by saying any group which carries out terrorist acts will be listed by the US after certain criteria for such listing is met. Could that be a warning to Karuna to get his act together?

James Ross says Human Rights Watch does not take a position on whether particular groups should be on a state's 'terrorist organization' list but they expect the US and other concerned governments to use their influence to promote greater respect for human rights in Sri Lanka.

?That means being critical not only of the LTTE, which has long been responsible for serious abuses, but of government forces and armed groups that have government support, tacit or otherwise.?

The SLMM frequently receives complaints of the Karuna faction holding people inside their political offices but are helpless. ?We can?t really rule against Karuna since he is not a part of the CFA but the government is responsible for their areas and since they have not made any attempts to stop the Karuna faction then they bear some responsibility.? In Ethiopia the government was charged with manipulating warlords to prevent any hope of peace in Somalia.

When Sri Lanka holds provincial elections and ask the warlord of the east to step aside for the winners at the ballot box, we too might be in for an unpleasant surprise.

But all in all the government security establishments are not too happy with Karuna and in fact one military source told the Daily Mirror,once the LTTE is rid from the north as well, Karuna will be brought under a leash ? easier said than done with the organization growing at a rapid pace.

?I think the only way out of this is if Karuna is either taken out or he becomes a politician like Minister Douglas Devananda. But then you have one problem. How is Karuna going to calm down his men who make money out of extortions and govern the east,? a diplomat queried.

Karuna himself has said he hopes to enter mainstream politics in the near future and insists once his fight against the LTTE is over he will give up his weapons. Sounds good if he keeps to his word but in the meantime the actions of his group is not doing any good for his image or to that of the government and under those circumstances it wouldn?t be long before he is forced to decide if he is a ?friend or foe? to the people of Sri Lanka.

Pickles, puzzles and political puddles

My dear Mahinda Aiya,

Ayubowan, vanakkam, assalamu alaikkum and best wishes and deepest sympathies as the nation seems to be falling apart despite having four nation building ministers. All the king?s monstrously overloaded Cabinet and all the king?s unlimited executive powers appear to have plunged the nation into a stormy sea and we are drifting like a raft not knowing where we are going or what is happening. In the aftermath of the four air raids by the flying Tigers or the Eelam air force ? with some defence analysts saying the four raids were as devastating as the four Eelam wars ? the government is known to be desperately working out more effective counter measures against any future LTTE air raids. But many analysts believe that before these counter measures are worked out, installed and put into effective operation the Tiger air force might launch a few more attacks on targets that are economically or politically explosive.

According to some defence analysts the Eelam air force is believed to be having 10 to 15 light air crafts with improvised devices. But with highly experienced pilots who are believed to have specialized in air show acrobatics, these light planes could cause more economic, political and social devastation than all the modern fighter jets of the Sri Lanka Air Force.

Earlier the SLAF had planned to send a team to Russia and the Ukraine to negotiate a deal for the purchase of the state-of ?the art MiG 29 fighter jets at a sky-is the -limit cost but other experts have now pointed out that these sophisticated MiG 29 fighter jets are meant more for fighter plane to fighter plane combat and not to trace or tackle light air craft.

Indian aviation experts came recently to service the radar system around the Katunayake air base and the Bandaranaike International Airport but the night closure of Sri Lanka?s only international airport is reportedly causing chaos and severe losses. Analysts say that while tourist arrivals have crash landed to single digits, a marked increase is reported in the arrival of arms dealers and their agents apparently to sell aerial power to the government and possibly through some channels to the other side too. That is how it has always been. War benefits mainly the arms dealers and the other merchants of war and such is the case in Lanka too though an unsuspecting if not somewhat unwise or foolish section of the people continues to cheer the apparent crashing of the LTTE in the east and elsewhere.

On the political front the biggest blow to Sri Lanka last week was the tough message delivered by the visiting US Assistant Secretary Richard Boucher of the need to immediately curb the human rights abuses, the threats to the media and the growing violence. To underline the mood and message of the American government and the people, Mr. Boucher insisted on going to Jaffna to meet media personnel and other civic action groups. Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollegama had reportedly agreed to these meetings. But when you were informed apparently by military authorities in Jaffna and others here, you were not too happy and Mr. Bogollegama was somewhat reprimanded. Largely because no country could say no to the all-powerful Americans, a compromise was reached. Mr. Boucher was convinced or persuaded that there would be too much of a security risk for him to go from place to place. So the compromise was for him to be in one place and for different groups to meet him. Among those who met Mr. Boucher were the veteran editor and the publisher of the Jaffna-based Uthayan newspapers. The facts and figures they and others like Catholic Bishops, civic action groups and senior officials like Government Agents, gave Mr. Boucher were not fully reported. But when he came to meet you on Thursday his mood and tone were far from pleasant and his message tough. The US congress and administration are under increasing pressure to suspend aid or impose other economic sanctions on Sri Lanka if immediate steps are not taken to improve the human rights and media freedom situation and to resume talks for a political solution.

But that political solution seems to have been pushed back by more than 20 years to the pre 1984 era. On May Day the ruling SLFP unveiled its long-awaited package for a political solution to the ethnic conflict. Though lots of minds went into it the package was finally drafted by lawyer Gomin Dayasiri who is widely known as a Sinhala Buddhist extremist. Naturally the TNA threw the package into the political rubbish heap, the LTTE does not even talk about it while even other parties like the UNP, the SLMC, the CWC, the EPDP and even the TULF led by V. Anandasangaree has expressed disappointment.

According to a Sunday newspaper report, Mr. Boucher has told the government, the US believes the talks should be based on the proposals earlier submitted by All Party Representative Committee chairman Tissa Vitharana. It seems we are in a situation where the North is north, the East is east and the South is south and they may never be able to meet. Even the stale peanuts given in the SLFP package have been rejected by extremist groups like the JVP and the JHU on the basis that the package does not emphasis the unitary nature of the Constitution. Apparently to placate these extremists, you have withdrawn the package for further review and most analysts say you might as well dump it somewhere in the Indian Ocean because India itself is widely expected to come out with a strong statement soon demanding far-reaching changes in the SLFP package to meet the grievances and the aspirations of the Tamil-speaking people.

For years now instead of the Newly Industrialized Countries status we were hoping to achieve, we have been more like a Nation in Confusion ? confusion within confusion, cliques within cliques, agendas within agendas and contradictions within contradictions. The hacked phrase of politics having no permanent friends but only permanent interests seems to be a hard fact in our country these days.

The latest Mul Pituwa story in this scandal of opportunism and double dealing was what happened at the Lake House newspaper group on Thursday. A journalist who was former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe?s editorial director has now been appointed personally by you as Chairman of the Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd.

With few people being able to figure what is happening, who is for whom or whether we are going here, there or nowhere, most people would cry out ?Stop this circus and let me out. I am tired of going round and round while the cost of living is going up and the economy down.?

Yours sincerely,

Koththamalli