US should push prosecution of individuals in Sri Lanka - Congressional Caucus hears

The Panel

The US has the opportunity to prosecute Sri Lankan war criminals and place sanctions on Sri Lanka, the Congressional Caucus on Ethnic and Religious Freedom in Sri Lanka heard at a discussion last week.

The caucus held its second such event on Capitol Hill last Wednesday.

Speaking from the discussion panel, Co-Editor-in-Chief of Just Security and Professor of Law at New York University School of Law, Ryan Goodman, urged the US to take concrete actions in working towards prosecutions of individuals and placing sanctions on Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka Urges U.S. to Reduce Human Rights Focus as China Gains

Sri Lanka is urging the U.S. to avoid letting human rights concerns dominate the relationship between the countries five years after the end of a civil war that killed as many as 40,000 civilians.
Reconciliation in Sri Lanka is occurring at a “rapid pace” and the government is focused on strengthening its economy, Sajin de Vass Gunawardena, a lawmaker and coordinating secretary to President Mahinda Rajapaksa, said in an interview in Washington. Human rights issues shouldn’t hinder closer economic ties with the U.S., he said.

What More Congress (and the Administration) can to to promote Accountability in Sri Lanka [Road Map I]

Vanni, Sri Lanka 2009

Ryan Goodman

The Obama administration has taken the lead internationally to promote accountability in Sri Lanka. The principal focus is on war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the country’s decades long civil war. But those efforts are also important to addressing the situation of Tamil, Muslim, and Christian minorities in Sri Lanka today.

Lanka accuses US, UK of LTTE links

Minster Pavitra with Prez MR

The Government claims the United States and British Governments are influenced by the votes they receive from LTTE supporters in their respective countries. Power and Energy Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi, speaking at an event today, claimed that US President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron had secured votes from LTTE supporters to come to power. She claimed that now Obama and Cameron are working according to the agenda of the LTTE supporters against the Sri Lankan Government.

US axes Lankan voter education funding amid controversy

Dharisha Bastians

◾US aid agency tells prospective applicants federal grant opportunity has been ‘deleted’ ◾Gota vows to investigate those receiving funds for USAID project ◾Cabinet wants US Envoy summoned says Keheliya ◾No official summons but Minister met Ambassador Sison over issue: MEA sources

The USAID has cancelled funding for a voter education program after the Sri Lankan Government raised objections and the island’s top defence official vowed to investigate organizations receiving grants to implement the project.

Sri Lanka: Gnanasara Thera Banned From Entering US!

The Bodu Bala Sena alleges that the US State Department has taken measures to cancel its General Secretary Galagodaaththe Gnanasara Thera’s visa to the United States.

Speaking to Asian Mirror, BBS Chief Executive Officer Dilantha Vithanage said an official of the US Embassy had contacted Gnanasara Thera and informed him of the decision made by the US State Department. The United States had granted Visa to Galagodaaththe Gnanasara Thera before he formed the Bodu Bala Sena Organization in 2012.

US funds projects to undermine the government says Defence Secretary Gotabhaya

Ahead of Presidential polls:  Govt. troubled by US-funded project

The government would investigate local NGOs involved in an unprecedented US project meant to influence the electorate ahead of national level elections next year, a senior government spokesman said yesterday.

"US Embassy In Colombo Was Behind Anti-Muslim Violence" -- Editor, Gota's War

Veteran political commentator C.A.Chandraprema's analysis of the Aluthgama clash has given rise to the speculation that the US Embassy in Colombo was behind the whole incident and they exactly knew what was happening in Aluthgama! "The US Embassy should explain to the world how the BBS including the thug Gnanasara were given visas for a tour of the USA about a year ago, long after they had begun this anti-Muslim hate campaign. By the time they went to the USA, they had begun surrounding Muslim business houses, the attack on Fashion Bug in Pepiliyana had taken place and the BBS had declared themselves to be ‘unofficial policemen’ and had begun this process of taking the law into their own hands.

US creating a Taliban in Sri Lanka: Minister Champika

Similar to how the United States nurtured Taliban, which later targeted strategic locations in New York, US Ambassador Michele J. Sison is nurturing the Sri Lankan Jihadist groups thus jeopardizing the security of not only Sri Lanka and the US but of the entire world, Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka said.

US House of Representatives urges perpetrators of mass atrocities in Sri Lanka be restricted entry

The US House of Representatives has urged the State Department to "place restrictions on entry to the United States for anyone it identifies as responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity" in Sri Lanka, in a resolution passed on Monday. Highlighting the "numerous unaddressed allegations of arbitrary detention, sexual violence, torture, and abuse of detainees by police and security forces in Sri Lanka’s north and east during the end of the war", the House of Representatives stated that such crimes were "on-going and have increased after the war."

Why might Americans, in particular, care about Gota? Here’s the dirty secret: He is one of us

Gotabhaya on a inspection tour

Sri Lanka’s Greatest War Criminal (Gotabaya) is a US Citizen: It’s Time to Hold Him Accountable  by Ryan Goodman

Monday, May 19th marks the five-year anniversary of the end of Sri Lanka’s civil war, which claimed the lives of 40,000 to 70,000 civilians in its “catastrophic” final phase. In 2009, Congress asked the State Department to report on the humanitarian law violations during the war, and those reports make for gruesome reading. If history is a guide, this week congressional representatives will publicly call for accountability for war crimes in Sri Lanka—as members of Congress have done on the past four anniversaries.

US too ignore GoSL order banning Tamul diaspora orgs

Nisha Desai Biswal

The United States became the second country to ignore the UPFA Government’s prohibition order on 16 Tamil diaspora groups and 424 of their members on grounds that they are allegedly involved in terrorist activities. Some of those listed were among those who were at the Department of State in Washington DC last Thursday. They were part of a delegation that met Nisha Desai Biswal, Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asia. It was organised by the United States Tamil Political Action Council (USTPAC).

US Bureau of Counterterrorism report 2014: Sri Lanka Chapter

Overview: The Sri Lankan government defeated the terrorist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in 2009. Concerns remain that widely reported allegations of atrocities and violations of international law committed by both the government and the LTTE during the civil war have not been addressed. Partly as a result, counterterrorism cooperation and training with the United States was limited in 2013. No arrests related to terrorism were made, but the Government of Sri Lanka remained concerned that the LTTE’s international network of financial support was still functioning.

The Tamil Tragedy: the haplessness in hoping the forces guilty of supporting Sri Lankan state would somehow provide redress

US AMB at the HRC 25:
Will they provide redress?

Cheran Rudhramoorthy

In the last week of April 2009, an unexpected telephone call from a long-lost friend woke me up in the early hours. For me, those were the days of continuous trauma, relentless protests in the streets of Toronto and constant ‘bombardment’ by horrific images from the war zones in the Vanni region of Sri Lanka. The request from my friend was simple and direct:

'Several hundred people here are going to surrender to the Sri Lankan army. We do not know what will happen to us but I have no confidence that I will survive. I have, somehow, at great risk, managed to send my kids outside Sri Lanka a few weeks ago. Please take care of them…'

The resolution, of course, is not just about what happened during the conflict - US Ambassador Sison

Paula Schriefer speaaking on the resolution

''The resolution represents the international community’s unwavering support to help prevent a return to violence and to ensure a secure, unified, and prosperous Sri Lanka for the future. Our ultimate goals are ones shared by friends of Sri Lanka: stability and long-lasting peace on the island. These are also goals shared by Sri Lankan citizens across all communities.
The end of the conflict presented an unprecedented opportunity to move past the divisions that have existed in this country for far too long, and to bring people together to heal the wounds of war.''
 

Ambassador Sison’s Remarks to the Foreign Correspondents Association - April 3, 2014

UN Human Rights Council sends a clear message: justice and accountability cannot wait

America at UNHRC

UN Human Rights Council Vote on Sri Lanka Reconciliation

Press Statement /John Kerry, Secretary of State

Today’s vote in the UN Human Rights Council sends a clear message: The time to pursue lasting peace and prosperity is now; justice and accountability cannot wait.

This resolution reaffirms the commitment of the international community to support the Government of Sri Lanka as it pursues reconciliation and respect for human rights and democratic governance.

Demilitarisation, Human Rights, and Indo-US Interests in Sri Lanka

Aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln
stationed in Indian Ocean

Parasaran Rangarajan

The United States is reported to have requested a military installation in Sri Lanka as part of its “Pivot Towards Asia” where the Pentagon has stated that approximately 60% of U.S. Navy assets will be in the Asia Pacific region including Oceania, South China Sea, and the Indian Ocean by 2020[1] .

Sri Lanka is currently under increasing international pressure for violations of international law and views the continued U.S. sponsored resolutions at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) against the island nation as interference in its domestic affairs in a larger attempt to bring about regime change under the guise of human rights.

US concerns on continued intimidation of Sri Lankan civil society and HRDs

Jan Paski: Intimidations continue

Press Statement by Jen Psaki, Department SpokespersonThe United States is concerned by intensifying pressure on Sri Lankan civil society and human rights activists. We are especially concerned by the detention of well-known human rights defenders Ruki Fernando and Father Praveen Mahesan after they made inquiries regarding the arrest of another activist. While it is encouraging that Mr. Fernando and Father Mahesan have since been released, they continue to face harassment by security forces. We are also aware of reports that additional human rights groups are being targeted for investigation by security forces.

Sri Lanka: Draft rsolution shows that USA and UK are determined to see the structural genocide of Tamis completed - Tamil Net

Vanni, Sri Lanka during the war, 2009

US draft stops at Navi Pillai inquiry into HR crimes of ‘both parties’ by TamilNet
A draft resolution on Sri Lanka that is to be tabled at the UNHRC later this month by the USA, UK, Montenegro, FYR of Macedonia and Mauritius was put to circulation on Monday. Contrary to the trumpeting by sections among Tamils expecting US-UK justice through international investigation on war crimes, the draft just harps on OHCHR investigation into “alleged violations and abuses of human rights and related crimes by both parties in Sri Lanka.” On the other hand, the draft that fails in recognising Tamils even by name not only provides more space and time for the completion of their structural genocide but also binds the UNHRC with supporting the “unified land” of the genocidal State.

Draft resolution on Sri Lanka as received by UN Human Rights Council Members

UNHRC in 25th session ( UN photo)

Draft resolution on Sri Lanka as received by Human Rights Council Members

25/1. Promoting reconciliation, accountability, and human rights in Sri Lanka The Human Rights Council,
Reaffirming the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations,

Guided by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenants on Human Rights and other relevant instruments,

Bearing in mind General Assembly resolution 60/251 of 15 March 2006,
Recalling Human Rights Council resolutions 5/1, on institution-building of the Council, and 5/2, on the code of conduct for special procedures mandate holders, of 18 June 2007,