Australian Tamil

Dismissing the response by Colombo that Ban Ki Moon had not appointed panel of experts on other countries where there are "continuing armed conflicts on a large scale, involving major humanitarian catastrophes and causing the deaths of large numbers of civilians due to military action," as "simply untrue nonsense," Francis A. Boyle, professor at the University of Illinois College of Law, said that during the past year alone UN Human Rights Council had authorized Goldstone Commission investigation into Israel war crimes against Palestinians in Gaza. Noting that the "United Nations is just beginning to do the right thing for the Tamils," Prof Boyle urged that "Tamils around the world could do the same thing for establishing an International Criminal Tribunal for Sri Lanka (ICTSL)."

A group of thirty-two journalists from the communities of Sinhalese, Tamil and Muslim from Trincomalee district visited Jaffna peninsula Sunday under a program arranged by National Peace Council (NPC) aimed at promoting understanding between communities, sources in Jaffna said. The group of journalists visited the offices of Uthayan, Yarl Thinakural and Valampuri Tamil dailies published in the peninsula.

The central issue discussed in the March 4th morning arguments heard by the panel of nine United States Supreme Court judges in the case Samantar v. Yousuf was not if the the former Somali defense minister Samantar was responsible for torture, war-crimes, and rape in his native land but whether Samantar has immunity under the Foreign State Immunity Act (FSIA) preventing alleged victims from bringing him to court in the United States on tort claims. The courts ruling which is expected in June, will set an important legal precedent, and will likely determine if alleged war criminals can use US as a safe-haven, legal sources in Washington D.C. said.

Pilgrims who returned from Paalaitheevu after attending the lent period prayers in St. Antony?s church Sunday said that they had seen many Chinese Tents and food packets with Chinese writing on them during the annual festival held Saturday and Sunday. Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) occupies many of the pilgrims? halls behind the church and no one was allowed to enter them, the devotees said. Chinese navy presence in Kachchatheevu has been confirmed by Tamil Nadu journalists who had participated in the St. Antony?s Church festival recently, according to a Tamil daily in Tamil Nadu.

In the context of Sri Lanka government failing in its duty to provide assistance to the resettled Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Jaffna peninsula as promised, Asian Development Bank (ADB) has stepped in to help the IDPs, paying each of the 16,831 IDP families with the second stage payment of 25,000 rupees, sources in Jaffna said. It is alleged that the government is yet to pay the first stage of payment of 5,000 rupees to some of the IDP families, the sources added.

Sri Lanka government is actively engaged in building police stations and magistrate courts in the districts of Ki?linochchi and Mullaiththeevu in Vanni where Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) are yet to be resettled, sources in Vanni said. Secretary to the Ministry of Justice made a sudden visit Wednesday to Ki?linochchi and Mullaitheevu with the view to find locations for the magistrate courts to be built. He was accompanied by Buddhist Priest Rev. Athamba Buthara Kalyanasitha Thero and the magistrates of Vavuniyaa, Mannaar and the magistrates appointed to Ki?linochchi and Mullaiththeevu, the sources added.

Three member delegation led by Indian Foreign Secretary Ms Nirupama Rao arrived in Colombo Saturday night around 10:30 on a three day official visit. She is scheduled to meet Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapakse and other government leaders and hold discussion on the resettlement of internally displaced Tamil families, and prospective political solution to Tamil national question, informed political sources in Colombo said.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon plans to ask a panel of experts to advise the world body on "accountability issues" relating to possible human rights abuses in Sri Lanka, Reuters reported quoting spokesperson Martin Nesirky as saying. Ban has said an investigation of war crimes allegations should be handled by the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva, Navi Pillay, who has called on Sri Lanka to investigate the allegations itself -- albeit with outside help, Reuters added. Calling the action "unwarranted" Sri Lanka said, "[n]o such action had been taken about other states with continuing armed conflicts on a large scale, involving major humanitarian catastrophes and causing the deaths of large numbers of civilians due to military action."

The presence of Chinese in Sri Lanka owned island of Kachchatheevu, considered as a threat to the security of India, is confirmed by a group of journalists and social activists from Tamil Nadu. More than thirty pre-fabricated structures with Chinese names were found on the island of Kachchatheevu located on the sea boundary between India and Sri Lanka by Tamil Nadu journalists and social activists who participated in the recent annual festival of Kachchatheevu St. Antony?s Church, according to Dinamalar, a Tamil Nadu daily. The pre-fabricated structures, however, were unoccupied but evidence of people living in them was observed by the visiting journalists from Tamil Nadu who were not permitted to photograph them by Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) soldiers. The presence of Chinese in the island of Kachchatheevu is seen as a threat to the security of India by its citizens, Dinamalar added.

?Sri Lanka government does not want any area in the island where minority community lives in majority. Hence the government led by President Mahinda Rajapakse is implementing its ?hidden agenda? to colonize such areas with Sinhalese to reduce the majority of minority community,? Mr. R. Sampanthan, leader of Ilankai Tamil Arasu Katchchi (ITAK) and the chief candidate for the Trincomalee electoral district, said addressing representatives of Tamil civil groups in Trincomalee.