When the Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten recently announced it had received the entire collection of the Wikileaks cable dump, the world was strangely silent. But there is a treasure trove in there and should be examined. Heaps on Sri Lanka from the last years, including Colombo allegedly purchasing weapons from North Korea and Iran. Norway as…
Showing all posts tagged Sri Lanka
No country should be immune from war crimes prosecutions, including Sri Lanka
Just what the world needs; another corporate journalist defending Sri Lankan war crimes and condemning Westerners (and many Tamils, but who cares about them?) for daring to demand accountability for the Rajapaksa junta. Welcome to the hall of infamy, UK Daily Telegraph Diplomatic Editor Praveen Swami. Sadly, you’ve swallowed the “war on terror” mantra completely,…
So much for the kind Colombo junta
Prosecute the bastards: Aid workers said one in ten of the 280,000 civilian refugees who fled the Sri Lankan army’s final onslaught against the Tamil Tiger rebels had either lost limbs or been so badly injured they urgently needed prosthetic limbs or wheelchairs to regain their mobility. The disclosure of thousands of severely maimed and…
There’s plenty in Wikileaks cable dump, if reporters care to look
One: This is why Wikileaks is so crucial: A June 2009 cable from France, days after the great Cairo speech of Obama, in which the Israelis are said to claim a secret deal with the US for settlement growth. I’m running. More to say later. And note too… where… Sarkozy says, Israel, the horse of history is…
UN capitulation to Colombo criminals
Oh dear: No sooner had Sri Lanka’s supposed change of heart on allowing the UN panel of experts on war crimes convened by Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon been announced, the Colombo regime made clear the circumscribed space it will accord the panel and, more importantly, the dangerous reciprocity it is demanding. After months of defiance…
ABC TV News 24 on refugees and government failures
I was invited back on ABC TV News24’s The Drum tonight with host Waleed Aly and guests Jo Stella and ABC journalist Gillian Bradford (video here). We talked mostly about domestic politics especially asylum seekers and the parlous state of refugee policy on both major sides of parliament. I argued that Labor has spent the…
An Australian call for war crimes to be investigated in Sri Lanka
Australian Lawyers for Human Rights yesterday released the following statement: “The panel of experts appointed by the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, to advise him on accountability issues for the events in Sri Lanka during the period of civil war should recommend that the United Nations set up a properly resourced, independent and…
India and Sri Lanka are our mates (and they cause violence)
Thank you, Wikileaks. One: US officials had evidence of widespread torture by Indian police and security forces and were secretly briefed by Red Cross staff about the systematic abuse of detainees in Kashmir, according to leaked diplomatic cables released tonight. The dispatches, obtained by website WikiLeaks, reveal that US diplomats in Delhi were briefed in…
At least London is giving the impression of caring about killed Tamils
This may be show to appeal to British Tamil voters but at least a major Western government is keeping some pressure on the murderous regime in Colombo: Liam Fox, the defence secretary, is planning to defy the Foreign Office by making a personal visit to Sri Lanka this weekend to deliver a speech in honour…
Wikileaks rallies in Australia hit a nerve
Green Left Weekly reports comprehensively on last week’s Australian pro-Wikileaks rallies: More than 1000 people rallied at Sydney’s Town Hall at 1pm on December 10 to show their support for Wikileaks and its founder Julian Assange. Rallies also occurred in Brisbane, Melbourne, Hobart, Adelaide and Perth. The rally, held to coincide with International Human Rights…