Dr. Veerakanthipillai Shanmugarajah’s Affidavit on conditions in the Vanni

Dr. Veerakanthipillai Shanmugarajah,refugee Medical Superintendent , Mullaitivu General Hospital, being a Hindu, honestly , sincerely and solemnly swear and MAKE OATH as follows:

1. I  am Dr.Veerakanthipillai Shanmugarajah, presently Medical Superintendent ,Mullaitivu.  I was born on 11 June 1968 and am presently 44 years old. I am a graduate of Jaffna University’s faculty of Medicine, and hold the qualification of Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery. I have had additional training in obstetrics and gynaecology and anaesthesia. I have worked as a Medical Officer at the Jaffna Teaching Hospital, the District General Hospital in Killinochi and the Mullaitivu General Hospital. I was the Medical Superintendent at Mullaitivu General Hospital and the acting Medical Superintendent in charge of the obstetrics ward at the hospital. I am married, and have three children aged 13, 10 and 4.

Panelists discuss ‘Sri Lanka’s unfinished war’ at FrontLine Club; GoSL refused to attend

A preview screening of the BBC World documentary ‘Sri Lanka’s unfinished war’, which outlines several cases of rape and torture against Tamils in the North-East, took place at the Frontline club today.
The screening was followed by a panel discussion with the producer of the documentary, Frances Harrison, producer of the No Fire Zone documentaries, Callum Macrae and policy and advocacy manager at Freedom from Torture, Sonya Sceats. The Sri Lankan High Commission to the UK refused an invitation to participate in the discussion.

A film of alleged war crimes … how I became Sri Lanka's most hated man

Callum Macrae 

The reaction of the people I met in Sri Lanka is at odds with the intimidation against me engineered by a despotic government

A film shot in January 2009 allegedly shows a Sri Lankan soldier executing a Tamil Tiger prisoner. Photograph: Journalists For Democracy/AFP/Getty Images

They haunt our every move, on their motorbikes in their silver hatchback and on their tuk tuks. Sri Lanka's intelligence officers are a tenacious lot, but there's another group perhaps even more tenacious in their pursuit of us: "spontaneous", pro-government demonstrators.

CHOGM 2013/Sri Lanka : Investigations into journalist approaching President

Minister of Mass Media and Information Keheliya Rambukwella today stated that an investigation was underway as to how journalists belonging to United Kingdom's Channel-4 was able to question President Mahinda Rajapaksa, breaking protocol at the Commonwealth Business Forum event held yesterday amid tight security.

No private air travel to Jaffna for CHOGM

FITS Aviation Ground Handling Officer, Siriwansa, told Ceylon Today that the Civil Air Services Authority had informed them (FITS) to suspend all air travel to Jaffna from 10-18 November in view of the Commonwealth Heads Of Government Meeting (CHOGM).

Sri Lanka No fire Zone : Commonwealth secretariat disturbed

The Commonwealth Secretariat says it is “disturbed” by scenes and testimonies in the ‘No Fire Zone’ video on Sri Lanka.
Commonwealth Secretariat spokesman Richard Uku tweeted saying the controversial video show the ugliness of war.

Police in search for Channel 4 Jounalists in Sri Lanka

The Sunday Leader learns that defence authorities were placed on high alert last week after information was received that a Channel 4 journalist was in the country.
 Intelligence agencies had initially alerted the Terrorist Investigations Department (TID) to look for the journalist and his partner who were believed to have been staying at an apartment in Colombo.

Sri Lanka dictates what Nepal should watch

Scene form Broken directed by Kannan Arunasalam Dilrukshi Handunnetti An ongoing regional film festival showcasing documentaries focusing on South Asia suffered a severe setback on Thursday (3), when organizers announced that the Sri Lankan Government had pressured Nepali authorities to ban the screening of three films on Sri Lanka.

Sri Lankan Government try to ban No Fire Zone in Nepal

Once again the government of Sri Lanka has tried to prevent an international screening of No Fire Zone: The Killing Fields of Sri Lanka, this time in Nepal. Once again they have failed because of the determination of defenders of human rights and free speech.

Sri Lanka: Slaughter in the no fire zone

 The Sri Lankan government still denies responsibility forthe killing of up to 70,000 Tamil civilians at the end of the civil war in 2009. So why has it been chosen to host a Commonwealth summit asks Callum Macrae, director of a harrowing film about the massacre

Two young girls caught up in the shelling … a still from No Fire Zone.

Govt. willing to probe Channel 4 allegations

The Ministry of External Affairs said yesterday the Sri Lankan Government is willing to probe war crime allegations made by Channel 4 in the Sri Lanka's Killing Fields video, provided the UK-based television broadcaster hands over the original video documentary to check whether the footage is genuine or ‘doctored.’

NO FIRE ZONE: Do you have hopes of such an investigation ever happening? Yes, I do - Callum Macrae

Peter Splinter of AI ( left) Callum Macrae (right) discussing g the film at UNHRC side event on 1st March 2013

After the screening of NO Fire Zone at UNHRC side event , Amnesty International talked to Callum Macrae, the director of “No Fire Zone” and the Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields series.

Amnesty International: How is this movie different to the two previous ones in the Killing Fields series?

Sri Lanka film on war crimes makes debut at U.N.

By Stephanie Nebehay | Reuters 

GENEVA (Reuters) - A documentary purporting to show the execution of civilians and other war crimes committed by the Sri Lankan army had its first public screening on Friday but was swiftly rejected by the government as part of an "orchestrated campaign" against it.

Sri Lanka Government wants to ban the Channel 4 film 'No Fire Zone' at UNHRC

In a strange move the Government of Sri Lanka send a letter to the President of the UNHRC on the first day of the 22^nd session calling for censorship within the UN premises. In two page letter GoSL said that the GoSL strongly protest the use of the premises of UN for the screening of this film, No Fire Zone produced by the Channel 4. The film is a documentary on the alleged war crimes that has taken place during the last phase of the war in Sri Lanka.

Motorcycle gunmen kill Kelaniya PS member who opposed Minister Mervyn

Supporters of the slain politician demand justice and blame police. Pic by Indika Handuwela

Gunmen who came on a motorcycle shot dead a Kelaniya Pradeshiya Sabha UPFA member just outside his house at Waragoda in Kelaniya last evening, heightening the tension in the area that has seen a hostile political battle between two ruling party factions.

The victim, Hasitha Madawala, was a close associate of PS Chairman Prassana Ranaweera and stood by him during the ongoing tussle between the PS Chief and Minister Mervyn Silva.Menaka Jayamaha, the victim’s neighbour, told the Sunday Times the killers who were wearing helmets shot Mr. Madawala at close range while he was standing outside his house.

Sri Lanka's Killing Fields Tourism:'' Come dance at place where thousands of war heroes, terrorists and others died"

Come dance at "place where thousands of war heroes, terrorists and others died"

HuffingtonPost, Frances Harrison,
The Sri Lankan military is advertising a newly constructed hotel in the heart of the killing fields in the north of the island, where tens of thousands of minority Tamils were killed in 2009. The holiday resort, called Lagoon's Edge, caters for Sinhala war tourists who want to see the last bastion of the defeated Tamil Tiger rebels. Billed as a once in a lifetime experience, one Sinhala language newspaper, Mawbima, boasted to readers that Lagoon's Edge is constructed entirely of teak, has a dance floor for parties and is situated in a "place were thousands of war heroes, terrorists and others died".

Skeletons of the past… Editorial , Ceylon Today

The trail of dead bodies might lead to anywhere or nowhere. Speculations are endemic that they might lead to either the ‘71 April insurrection or ’87 - ’89 terror era. Wherever they may lead, let’s hope not too many more corpses or their remains would be found.
What was discovered at the Matale Hospital premises tells a very horrific story. And the counting is not done, as yet. Mass graves, in the past, have left some morbid and stubborn impressions in the minds of the global community. They are not a total surprise to Sri Lanka either, the Guardian-State of Buddhism- the ultimate religion on ‘ahimsa’, non-violence.

“Nothing to call our own…” – The plight of the recently returned, resettled and landless IDPs in Sri Lanka’s North

Photo by author

Marisa de Silva 

 Recently returned to Puthumathalan
“As you drive past pile upon pile of corroding vehicles stacked one above the other, past pots, pans, sarees, slippers and plates (that once belonged to the people here), strewn all over the ground, and past the bullet and shrapnel splattered walls of homes ravaged by the war, on either side of the dusty, gravel roads of Puthukkudiyiruppu (PTK), you cannot help but feel the deep sadness and hopelessness that pervades the air around us.”

According to the government, Menik Farm has been closed and all it’s inmates resettled. Having visited some of the most recently resettled, this seems to be the case, except for the fact that many have been relocated and not allowed to their places of origin due to military occupation of their lands[1], whilst others who have been returned to their places of origin, have been left without proper shelter, income or basic infrastructure and resources, to fend for themselves.

US Lawmakers write to Secretary Clinton urging continued engagement with Sri Lanka on UNHRC resolution

Full Text of Letter, Signed by 31 US Legislators:

 The Honorable Hillary Rodham Clinton

Secretary of State

U.S. Department of State

Washington, DC 20520

Dear Madam Secretary:

September 21, 2012

We write to express our concerns regarding reconciliation and accountability progress in Sri Lanka following its 26-year civil war and the alleged commitment of war crimes and crimes against humanity by both sides in the final stages of the conflict in 2009.

Chairman SriLankan Airlines Caught With Huge Haul Of Foreign Currency

brother of president's wife

A massive cover up is underway to conceal and shield Chairman SriLankan Airlines Nishantha Wickramasinghe  from being prosecuted for having in his possession an undeclared Rs. 4 million worth of currency both local and foreign.