Archivo etiqueta «Sri Lanka»
By Namini Wijedasa, a journalist (THE NEW YORK TIMES, 31/12/11):
The Sri Lankan government’s defeat of the separatist Tamil Tigers in 2009 ended a three-decade war that took tens of thousands of lives. But only now is the government beginning to acknowledge its huge human cost. Two weeks ago, a government-appointed reconciliation commission released a long-awaited report, giving voice to the war’s civilian victims for the first time.
From August 2010 to January 2011, hundreds of people appeared before the commission in tears, begging for news of their loved ones, many of whom had last been seen in the … Seguir leyendo
By David Miliband and Bernard Kouchner, foreign ministers, respectively, of Britain and France from 2007 to 2010 (THE NEW YORK TIMES, 21/06/11):
In April 2009, we travelled together as foreign ministers to Sri Lanka, as 25 years of fighting between the Sri Lankan government and the Tamil Tigers neared its end.
The remaining fighters were trapped in the northern most part of the country — along with large numbers of civilians. U.N. estimates put the numbers of civilians there in the last few months of the war at over 300,000.
Our purpose was simple: to draw attention to the … Seguir leyendo
By Vijay K Nagaraj, research director at the International Council on Human Rights Policy (THE GUARDIAN, 28/01/11):
The Sri Lankan military is getting a makeover. Now that the war with the Tamil Tigers is over it is time to wash off the stains and spruce up. Military personnel may be spotted painting public buildings or engaged in projects to beautify Colombo, with defence secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa personally overseeing the transformation and development of the city.
The military playing a role in postwar reconstruction is not altogether misplaced but there is more to it than meets the eye. The Sri … Seguir leyendo
By Elaine Pearson, deputy director of Human Rights Watch’s Asia division (THE GUARDIAN, 26/11/10):
Since the decisive end of the decades-long conflict with the Tamil Tigers in May 2009, the Sri Lankan government has expended a great deal of energy and expense to prevent an international war crimes inquiry. Now the news has emerged that as part of this campaign, the government has hired the UK’s premier public relations firm, Bell Pottinger, to spin its story and salvage its reputation, said to be for almost £3m a year.
An independent inquiry is anathema to the Sri Lankan government. In … Seguir leyendo
By Peter Bouckaert, director of Human Rights Watch’s emergencies division (THE GUARDIAN, 05/09/10):
During the Vietnam conflict, the US military developed some creative ways to increase the numbers of Viet Cong insurgents it claimed to have killed. “If they’re dead, they’re Viet Cong,” meant that any Vietnamese killed by American soldiers would automatically count as enemy fighters.
Sri Lanka’s defence secretary, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, has taken such creative accounting to new heights. The United Nations reported that at least 7,000 civilians were killed and tens of thousands wounded during the final months of the brutal conflict with the Liberation Tigers … Seguir leyendo
By Edward Mortimer, chair of the Sri Lanka campaign for peace and justice and senior vice-president of the Salzburg Global Seminar (THE GUARDIAN, 12/07/10):
It is now over a year since the president of Sri Lanka, Mahinda Rajapaksa, claimed victory over the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). But war is still being waged on the “paradise island” – by the government, against the country’s journalists.
Last week alone saw one media outlet receive a threatening letter and the head of another charged with fraud by the supreme court after publishing stories critical of the government. And two … Seguir leyendo
By Robert Mahoney, deputy director of the Committee to Protect Journalists (THE GUARDIAN, 23/05/10):
Britons are again flocking to Sri Lanka. Tourist arrivals surged 47% last month from a year earlier and sun-seekers from the UK form the largest single group. That’s an astounding turnaround for a country that for more than a quarter of a century had been a case study in ethnic warfare, terrorism and brutal repression.
This week the government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, buoyed by recent wins in presidential and parliamentary elections, marks the first anniversary of its military victory over the separatist Tamil … Seguir leyendo
Par Louise Arbour, présidente de l’International Crisis Group, ancienne haut-commissaire des Nations unies aux droits de l’homme et ancienne procureur général pour les tribunaux pénaux internationaux pour l’ex-Yougoslavie et le Rwanda (LE MONDE, 20/05/10):
Pour être efficace, la justice pénale internationale ne peut être sélective. Alors que l’on célèbre le premier anniversaire de la fin de la guerre civile au Sri Lanka, la communauté internationale – en opposition totale avec sa ligne de conduite envers d’autres conflits – n’a pas encore pris les mesures nécessaires pour poursuivre les responsables des crimes de guerre commis au cours des derniers mois … Seguir leyendo
By Desmond Tutu, a winner of the Nobel Prize for Peace and Lakhdar Brahimi, Head of the UN assistance mission in Afghanistan from 2001-2004. Both are members of the Elders, a group of eminent global leaders brought together by Nelson Mandela in 2007 (THE GUARDIAN, 18/05/10):
It is now a year since the final stages of Sri Lanka’s brutal war. Peace, however imperfect, is always better than slaughter. But experience tells us that genuine peace is more than the absence of fighting.
On the first anniversary of the government’s military victory over the Tamil Tigers, how … Seguir leyendo
Par Alain Délétroz, vice-président de International Crisis Group à Bruxelles (LE TEMPS, 16/02/10):
Victoire et répression: avec l’arrestation du général Fonseka, candidat malheureux aux élections présidentielles, ce scénario se répète au Sri Lanka. En 2009, la victoire militaire sur le mouvement des Tigres de libération de l’Eelam tamoul s’était conclue par une répression brutale contre la population tamoule. Aujourd’hui, l’arrestation d’opposants suit la victoire électorale du président sortant, Mahinda Rajapakse, refermant ainsi l’espace de débat qui s’était entrouvert durant la campagne présidentielle.
En mai dernier, l’armée sri lankaise remportait la victoire sur les Tigres, mettant fin à près de … Seguir leyendo
By Peter Bouckaert, director of Human Rights Watch’s emergencies division (THE GUARDIAN, 21/01/10):
Despite verbal acrobatics reminiscent of George Orwell’s 1984, Sri Lankan officials have been unable to dismiss a shocking mobile phone video from last January purportedly showing Sri Lankan soldiers summarily executing naked and bound captives. The government has consistently claimed the video is fake, without providing any evidence that the gruesome scene was staged or the footage tampered with.
Now, the top United Nations envoy responsible for investigating extralegal executions around the world has added his voice to those believing the tape to be genuine. … Seguir leyendo
Par Vincent Brossel, chercheur Asie de RSF, et Jean-François Julliard, secrétaire général de Reporters sans frontières (LIBERATION, 27/10/09):
Dominique Strauss-Kahn a tranché. Le Fonds monétaire international (FMI) qu’il préside a débloqué 2,5 milliards de dollars [1,6 milliard d’euros] pour renflouer les caisses du Sri Lanka. Le rôle du FMI est certes d’aider les pays en difficultés financières, mais Strauss-Kahn n’avait-il pas promis que ce soutien irait vers les pays respectant la bonne gouvernance, dont la liberté de la presse est l’une des conditions ? Le Sri Lanka avait besoin d’argent pour payer la note d’une guerre civile qui a ravagé le pays pendant … Seguir leyendo
By Randeep Ramesh, India correspondent for the Guardian (THE GUARDIAN, 14/09/09):
When the Sri Lankan government routed the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam on the sandy beaches of the country’s north east, few would have predicted that the government offensive would continue. Yet in the months that have followed there has been little magnanimity, let alone reconciliation. Tens of thousands of Tamil civilians are still being kept in camps surrounded by barbed wire. The victorious army is being expanded – a bizarre peace dividend in a country that had to be thrown an IMF lifeline earlier this year.… Seguir leyendo
By Pradeep Jeganathan, a social anthropologist and novelist who lives and works in Sri Lanka (THE GUARDIAN, 01/09/09):
Discussions of Sri Lanka’s political futures – in international media, policy thinktanks and human rights groups – have been for some time now been cast in simple terms. They present an uncompromising, militaristic “Sinhala-dominated regime” and a “marginalised Tamil minority”, once authoritatively represented by Tiger rebels, now routed militarily. Given this framework, “a political solution” with “autonomous self-rule” for the Tamils is urged.
Framing non-European societies as collections of prescriptive communities has been for several centuries now been a persuasive and … Seguir leyendo
Par Denis Metzger, président d’Action contre la faim (LE MONDE, 20/08/09):
Trois ans. Trois ans déjà que nos 17 collègues, salariés locaux d’Action contre la faim, ont été mis à genoux et fusillés, le 4 août 2006, dans l’enceinte de nos bureaux de Muttur, au Sri Lanka. Ces assassinats constituent le crime le plus important en nombre commis contre des humanitaires ; il se définit légalement comme un des actes les plus graves qui existent : le crime de guerre.
Depuis trois ans, Action contre la faim se bat pour obtenir justice pour ces 17 personnes qui n’avaient qu’un … Seguir leyendo