Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has called on people displaced by fighting against the Taliban in the north-west of the country to go home.

He said that the first phase of a four-part programme to return them would begin on 13 July.

It is the first time the PM has made such a call since the army offensive against the Taliban began in April.

The army, meanwhile, says that its operation in Malakand has entered its final phase.

Mr Gilani said that militants had already been "cleared" from Swat, Buner and part of Upper Dir.

Several hundred families from those areas have already begun to return to their homes.

Developed and developing nations have agreed that global temperatures should not rise more than 2C above 1900 levels, a G8 summit declaration says.

That is the level above which, the UN says, the Earth's climate system would become dangerously unstable.

But the industrialised G8 nations have so far failed to persuade developing countries to accept targets for reducing emissions by 50% by 2050.

On Wednesday the G8 agreed to 80% cuts by the same date.

Earlier UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said the G8 had not done enough and should also set 2020 targets.

He said that while the G8 agreement reached on Wednesday was welcome its leaders also needed to establish a strong and ambitious mid-term target for emissions cuts.

The continued denial of freedom of movement for over 250,000 innocent men, women and children – including thousands who are injured, some with disabilities, some mentally challenged, some pregnant, many sick and elderly and most of them traumatized – is a serious violation of their rights as citizens of Sri Lanka. To do so even after weaning out over 11,000 individuals who had some form of LTTE connection calls into question the Government’s motives, sensitivity and its sincerity in reaching out to the Tamils.

The need for ‘screening’ used by the Government as a pretext to justify this detention ‘sounded’ reasonable at the beginning. But it looks increasingly like a smoke screen behind which a policy of prolonged detention of Tamil civilians in violation of the constitution is to be executed. To date, we haven’t been told of any one family, not even one, that is deemed to have been ‘screened’ and therefore free to go out of these camps. This is despite over 40,000 people being inside these camps for over four months and some 800 of them being inside such camps for over 15 months.

To the contrary, the infrastructure facilities and administrative procedures that are being put in place on the ground – in Menic farm where most of the displaced civilians are currently incarcerated – indicate that the IDPs are going to be kept there for a very long time. They are going to kept for much longer than they would want to be there and contrary to their first preference which is to go and stay with friends and relatives in the interim before returning to their original places after demining.

In this background it is not only the idealists and those with a principled stand based on rights who are critiquing the Governments policy. Now, even the realists and those who have less qualms about interning the population of two and a half districts so that those in the other nineteen and a half could feel more secure are beginning to question the rationale. There are people in the Government too, who are looking for alternative options due to reasons including the high maintenance cost, the policy being in violation of the constitution and norms, and critically because it makes subsequent reconciliation that much more difficult. But the real decision makers in the Government are not swayed by human rights, ethics or constitutional propriety. The military necessity, some real and some perceived, dictates their decisions.

There have been previous instances in the history of the world when countries have been faced with such a dilemma – balancing the security imperative of some with the liberty of some others. The internment of about 120,000 Japanese-Americans in USA in the wake of World War II is one such instance. It was later singled out by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) as the “worst single wholesale violation of civil rights of American citizens in our history.” Is the detention of Tamil civilians in Sri Lanka going to be the shame of our Country?

There are striking similarities. In both cases the designers and decision makers operated on the ‘conclusory belief’ that ethnicity or race determined loyalty and or complicity. The victims of this belief were held collectively guilty and collectively punished. It treated all of them guilty until proven innocent.

In the US after the attack on Pearl Harbour the Army suspected the loyalties of the first and second generation Japanese Americans and feared that they might operate as a fifth column. They alleged that some of them were working in collaboration with the ‘enemy’ and that some others might do so in the future. So the army ‘after the initial plan for ‘voluntary’ exclusion did not succeed, forcibly removed them, first to “assembly centers” and then to “relocation centers”. These latter camps, it is reported were ‘located in desolate western areas, were surrounded by barbed wire and guarded by military police’. Not too different from the “welfare camps” in Menic farm created by clearing forest areas in Vanni.

”Life in the relocation camps was spartan, with shoddy and crowded buildings, defective facilities, faulty heating, inadequate health care, and limited education programs. Privacy was impossible. Families and individuals alike lost their identities and became known only by identification numbers” describes a report on Japanese internment. It says “The history of life …. in the relocation camps is one of suffering and deprivation.” Compared to it the living conditions are much worse in camps in Menic Farm where Tamil civilians are currently detained.

One Japanese-American individual, an interment camp survivor, recollecting the time in the camps says, “One of my most poignant memories is of an intelligent and progressive-minded mother who was still managing — with much difficulty — to conceal from her 4-year-old that they were prisoners in what most inmates considered a racial internment camp”. Not too different a daily predicament facing the thousands of mothers in Menic Farm trying to explain to their four-year olds why otherwise respectable and law abiding people are being kept behind barbed wire, guarded by armed soldiers just because they are Tamil and are from Mullaithivu Kilinochchi, and Mannar Districts.

The internment had caused devastating long-term impacts on the Japanese-Americans who had gone through it. Many continued to suffer psychologically for the rest of their lives. Survey information found long term internees after release had a 2.1 times greater risk of cardiovascular disease, cardiovascular mortality and premature death than did a non-interned counterpart. Those who had undergone internment died 1.6 years earlier than their non-interned counter parts. ‘The Experience of Injustice: Health Consequences of the Japanese American Internment,’ Gwendolyn M. Jensen (1997) documents some of these impacts. The internment also had long term impact on their livelihoods and economic status. In Sri Lanka if the detention continues for a longer period it will inevitably have such long term consequences on the 250,000 plus Tamil civilians. If it happens it is clear who has to take responsibility for it.

In the US the internment is now recognized as a ‘great injustice’. It was made possible by several factors concluded a Government commission appointed several years later. In essence, ”it was the result of racial prejudice, wartime hysteria, and the failure of political leadership”.

The commission found, General DeWitt, who was the chief military officer responsible for internment, was temperamentally disposed to exaggerate the measures necessary to maintain security, and placed security far ahead of any concern for the liberty and constitutional rights of citizens. It also notes that those representing the interest of civil rights and civil liberties in Congress, the press, and other forums were either completely silent or even supported these measures at that time. There was no effective opposition.

Finally in the eighties the US Government based on the findings of this commission passed legislation to acknowledge the fundamental injustice of the internment of Japanese, apologized on behalf of the people of the United States for internment of its citizens and allocated funds to pay compensation. Is Sri Lanka going in the same road?

While the similarities are striking there are also significant differences. Firstly even in the internment camps there was freedom of movement – those interned were allowed to go out and work, stay as a family unit, pursue education in university and in some instances move in with relatives outside the camps. What they were prevented from doing was returning back to their homes in the exclusion zones in the west coast. In contrast the civilians in the camps in Menic Farm are incarcerated without any such liberty. Still thousands of families are separated and forced to live with complete strangers in crowded tents.

Secondly, the United States Government assumed the full cost of maintaining these internment camps. The financial implications always weighed heavily on the decisions the Government took. Whereas in Sri Lanka, the foreigners foot most of the bill. The Government succeeds in getting the UN and NGOs to pay for its programs, who in their eagerness to ‘engage’ seem to be very willing to lower their standards and compromise on principles in order to process the next tranche of money!
So the detention continues, in violation of the constitution, framed as military necessity, under the excuse of humanitarian imperative, contributing to long term devastation for a section of Sri Lankan citizens.

Not sure who in Sri Lanka will have the courage to say what Francis Biddle, the then Attorney General of the Unites States expressed, that “the program was ill advised, unnecessary and unnecessarily cruel”. The previous Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva pointed out the illegality of the detention of civilians but words such as cruelty won’t be found in any official dialogue between the Government or the NGOs. We don’t have to repeat the US treatment of American-Japanese citizens during World War II. That is unless, we actually want to!

Photos available at: http://www.sfmuseum.org/war/evactxt.html

Similar Posts:

• Vanni displaced: when will they be free from clutches of tigers and lions?
• What are we celebrating? Questions to ponder
• Setting the record straight: Challenges of internment for IDPs
• An eye-witness account of IDP camp conditions in Sri Lanka
• Why are the Vanni civilians still being held hostage?

Cars and car infrastructure cover North America like a bad rash. Car advocates like to argue that this is necessary and that we can’t possibly get rid of this rash because all the cars will become immobile and our economy will crash. The bad news is that the economy crashes even if you love cars, on the other hand, the really good news is that if you remove highways you can improve the economy by revitalizing local neighbourhoods.

Here’s a look at how tearing down highways is a good thing.

Though our transportation planners still operate from the orthodoxy that the best way to untangle traffic is to build more roads, doing so actually proves counterproductive in some cases. There is even a mathematical theorem to explain why: “The Braess Paradox” (which sounds rather like a Robert Ludlum title) established that the addition of extra capacity to a road network often results in increased congestion and longer travel times. The reason has to do with the complex effects of individual drivers all trying to optimize their routes. The Braess paradox is not just an arcane bit of theory either – it plays frequently in real world situation.

Likewise, there is the phenomenon of induced demand – or the “if you build it, they will come” effect. In short, fancy new roads encourage people to drive more miles, as well as seeding new sprawl-style development that shifts new users onto them.

Of course, improving congestion is not the main reason why a city would want to knock down a poorly planned highway–the reasons for that are plentiful, and might include improving citizen health, restoring the local environment, and energizing the regional economy. More efficient traffic flow is just a wonderful side benefit.

Sound dubious? Here are several examples of how three cities (and their drivers) have fared better after highways that should never have been built in the first place were taken down.

By Staff, Sustain Lane:

You would never cross the street without looking both ways, walk alone down a dark alley alone at three a.m., or tell your child to accept rides from strangers. So why let hazardous, toxic, and even carcinogenic chemicals into your home everyday?

The message driven home for millions of Americans each day via TV and internet commercials is this: No need to scrub or scour. With just one squeeze of the spray bottle, you can wipe away dirt, grime, and bacteria.

Alas, there’s that dark alley again. Air fresheners, disinfectants, and cleaners found under your sink are more dangerous than you think. Mix bleach with ammonia, for example, and you’ve got a toxic fume cloud used by the military in WWI. And they weren’t cleaning kitchens.

Here is a list of the ten products you should ban from your home -- forever -- along with suggested alternatives.

1. Non-Stick Cookware

When non-stick pans were first introduced into American households in the 1960s, they were thought to be a godsend. Gone were the days of soaking pans for hours and scouring pots with steel wool. In the forty years since then, however, we’ve learned that the ease of cleaning comes at a steep price: the coating that makes Teflon pans non-stick is polytetrafluoroethylene, or PTFE for short. When PTFE heats up, it releases toxic gasses that have been linked to cancer, organ failure, reproductive damage, and other harmful health effects.

The problems with PTFE-coated pans seem to occur at high temperatures, so if you must use Teflon, cook foods on medium heat or less. Avoiding non-stick pans altogether is the safest option. If you’re able to do so, try anodized aluminum, stainless steel, or cast iron pans with a little cooking oil. SustainLane reviewers like LeCreuset cast iron pans and more cost-effective ones like Lodge Logic. Using a lower setting on the stove will reduce the chances that your food will burn, which is how it usually gets stuck to pans the first place. If you’re worried about the extra calories cooking oil adds, try baking or steaming your food.

2. Plastic Bottles

By now you’ve heard of dangers of BPA in those ubiquitous neon water bottles. BPA mimics the effects of hormones that harm your endocrine system. While the company at the heart of the controversy has switched to BPA-free plastic, those aren’t the only toxic bottles. Single-use plastic bottles are even worse for leaching chemicals, especially when you add the heat of the sun (think about bottles left in your trunk) or the microwave. Aside from the fact that bottled water sold across state lines is not as regulated as tap water, the bottles themselves are spawning grounds for bacteria and are a source of needless waste. Each year, more than one million barrels of oil are used to manufacture the more than 25 billion single-use plastic water bottles sold in the U.S. Choose a reusable, stainless steel or glass bottle instead. SustainLane users have reviewed several water bottle alternatives.

3. Conventional Cleaning Supplies

These routinely make the top ten lists of worst household offenders. They contain toxic chemicals that negatively affect every system in your body. All purpose cleaners often contain ammonia, a strong irritant that has been linked to liver and kidney damage. Bleach is a powerful oxidizer, which can burn the skin and eyes. Another danger lies in oven cleaners, which can cause chemical burns and emit toxic fumes that harm the respiratory system. The American Association of Poison Control Centers reports that more than 120,000 children under the age of five were involved in incidents involving household cleaners in 2006, the most recent year for which data is available.

To protect you and your family from the hazards conventional cleaners pose, choose non-toxic, or natural cleaners. SustainLane reviewers have particularly enjoyed Method and Seventh Generation, which are commonly found on supermarket shelves. Bon Ami is a safe alternative to Comet and Ajax. If you have the time and want to go the extra mile, you can even mix your own using common household items like vinegar and baking soda. Check out these easy-to-make recipes household cleaners.

4. Chemical Insecticides and Herbicides

Since the purpose of these products is to kill pests, you can bet that many of them have ingredients in them that are also harmful to humans. For example, the active ingredient in Round-Up -- a weed-killer popular with gardeners -- is known to cause kidney damage and reproductive harm in mice. And cypermethrin, one of the active ingredients in the popular ant and roach-killer Raid, is a known eye, skin and respiratory irritant and has negative effects on the central nervous system.

There are several companies that sell natural and organic weed- and pest-control products. Buhach makes a natural insecticide from ground chrysanthemum flowers that controls ants, flies, fleas, lice, gnats, mosquitoes, spiders, and deer ticks, among other pests. Boric acid is an effective, natural solution for cockroaches as well; sprinkle it around baseboards, cracks and other places likely to harbor roaches. You can use this boric acid recipe to control ants. For weeds, check out E.B. Stone Weed-N-Grass or try spot-spraying with household vinegar.

5. Antibacterial Products

The widespread use of antibacterials has been shown to contribute to new strains of antibiotic-resistant “super-bugs.” The Center for Disease Control says that antibacterials may also interfere with immune system development in children. Triclosan -- the most common antibacterial additive found in more than 100 household products ranging from soaps and toothpaste to children’s toys and even undergarments -- accumulates in the body. In a study conducted by the Environmental Working Group, 97 percent of breast feeding mothers had triclosan in their milk, and 75 percent had trace amounts of the chemical in their urine.

Make it your goal to be to be clean, not germ-free. People who are exposed to household germs typically develop strong immune systems and are healthier overall. Avoid buying antibacterial products or soaps containing triclosan. Soap and water is really all you need to clean most things. There are plenty of eco-friendly hand washes and other cleansers that are safe for you and easy on the planet.

6. Chemical Fertilizers

These are notorious for causing damage to our water supply and are a known major contributor to algal blooms. Whenever it rains or a lawn is watered, the runoff goes straight into storm-drains, and untreated water is dumped into rivers, streams, and the ocean. This causes an imbalance in delicate water ecosystems, killing fish and degrading water quality.

If you have a lawn, choose organic fertilizers rather than chemical ones.

As another alternative to harsh chemicals, consider starting a compost pile to create nutrient-rich soil for your flower beds and vegetable gardens. You’ll be creating your own inexpensive fertilizer just by letting food scraps and yard trimmings sit. An added benefit: it’ll also help divert waste from landfills. SustainLane users have reviewed several compost bins here.

7. More Bulb for Your Buck

A Compact Fluorescent (CFL) bulb uses just a fraction of the energy regular light bulb uses. When your current bulbs burn out, swap them with CFLs, and start calculating your savings. General Electric has an online calculator that shows you just how much money you can save by making the switch.

One caveat of the low-energy bulb is that it contains mercury. Even so, CFLs are still your best bet, according to EPA Energy Star program director Wendy Reed. Coal-fired plants are the biggest emitters of mercury. Using CFL bulbs means you draw less power from the grid, which means less coal is burned for electricity. Because of the mercury, take precautions when disposing of these CFL bulbs. Rather than throwing them in your household trash or curbside recycling bin, take them to a hazardous waste collection or other special facility. This story from National Public Radio has a more through discussion of this topic.

8. Air fresheners

Just like cleaning supplies, these are incredibly toxic and can aggravate respiratory problems like asthma. Even those labeled “pure” and “natural” have been found to contain phthalates, chemicals that cause hormonal abnormalities, reproductive problems and birth defects. Try simmering cinnamon and cloves to give your home an “I’ve-spent-the-whole-day-baking” scent, and leave a few windows open to let in fresh air. You might also boil a pot of water on the stove with a few drops of your favorite essential oil, or use an essential oil burner.

9. Flame Retardants

A common flame retardant that was used in mattresses -- polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE) -- is known to accumulate in blood, breast milk and fatty tissues. This chemical is linked to liver, thyroid, and neuro-developmental toxicity. According to the Environmental Working Group, new foam items often do not contain PBDEs, but foam items purchased before 2005 (like mattresses, mattress pads, couches, easy chairs, pillows, carpet padding), are likely to contain them. Household furniture often contains flame retardants and stain repellents that use PBDE’s as well as formaldehyde and PFOA (the same chemical used in non-stick cookware).

If you are in the market for a new mattress or sofa, ask manufacturers what type of flame retardants they use. Look for products that don’t use brominated fire retardants. Organic Abode sells natural and organic furniture. If you’re looking to keep your existing mattress, but make it safer, use a cover made of organic wool to reduce PBDE exposure. You can find organic furniture and interior décor here.

10. Plastic Shopping Bags

Remember: Like diamonds, plastics are forever. Ever heard of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch? It’s a giant mass of plastic twice the size of Texas that’s floating 1,000 miles off the coast of California. In the United States, only two percent of plastic bags are recycled, which means that the remaining 98 percent is dumped into landfills or blown out to sea. According to Californians Against Waste, the City of San Francisco, which recently banned plastic shopping bags, spends 8.5 million dollars annually on plastic bag litter.

The good news is, we can easily decrease our plastic bags use. Bring in your own reusable cloth bags when you go shopping. If you have kids, ask them to remind you to bring them. Or keep them in a place by the door where you’re most likely to remember them on your way out.

Watch this informative cartoon on your own or with your kids

July 9, 2009

alternet

Bahamas Caribbean Blog International

Sri Lanka was once a ‘model democracy’ with a welfare state and social indicators that were the envy of the developing world. Hence, there was great optimism that life would return to normal, the barriers and check-points come down, tourists and foreign investments flow back, and the economy finally take off in an environment of peace and security once the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) were defeated. Residents of central Colombo who are daily inconvenienced by the security arrangements of the President and various VIPs that had turned the city into a veritable battle-field had hoped to see the barriers and check-points go. They have been disappointed!

After the defeat of the LTTE, it was hoped that South Asia’s most desirable capital city, whose many beautiful trees had been cut down to enhance VIP security, would once again become people, pedestrian and environment -friendly now that the war was over. Residents of Colombo also looked forward to an end to the culture of politicians breaking speed limits with impunity and the lifting of Emergency Regulations (ER), which had also been used and abused by the State during the Southern Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), uprising in the late eighties and early nineties when tens of thousands died in Southern Sri Lanka. These hopes have been dashed. It is increasingly evident that the Colombo regime’s insecurities (despite or perhaps because of weeks of vainglorious victory celebrations), coupled with thirty years of war has left an institutional legacy and “security’ mindset that would need considerable shift before Lanka takes off.

The question on many minds at this time is: will militarization be a substitute for democratization– beyond the show of elections? The impact of thirty years of armed conflict between successive Sri Lankan governments and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), may be analyzed in terms of human, economic, and governance costs.

It is increasingly clear that the governance cost and democracy deficit would have the greatest long term impact on the country. The human costs of three decades of conflict are evident in over 100,000 lives lost and maimed, and over half a million displaced at different times including the 280,000 in internment camps in Vavuniya at this time. The mounting economic cost of conflict is evident in the fact that the final year of war the GoSL was spending almost 17 percent of GDP on the war effort. This is partly the reason for a 1.9 billion IMF loan request at this time. Sri Lanka has the largest armed forces per capita in South Asia and trouble paying salaries. Yet, strangely since the war ended there are plans to enlarge the military by 50% - an odd sort of military Keynsianism given that the country does not produce its own arms and spends billions on armaments that it can hardly afford.

Much work lies ahead if the narrative of economic boom in Lanka is to be realized. The challenge now is to move beyond a highly militarized, state-centric national security paradigm and prioritize human security and development which enabled the island to achieve the highest social indicators in South Asia. It is thus that the military victory over the LTTE may be translated into a stable and sustainable peace in Sri Lanka.

Governance Cost of Conflict and Militarization

The last three years of war to defeat the LTTE saw a serious erosion of governance structures, democratic institutions, and traditions of multiculturalism and co-existence among diverse ethnic and religious communities. It is clear that post-LTTE, the government would need to rethink the military-centric national security state and the repression that it cultivated during the war, which in some ways mimicked the tactics and strategies of the enemy which ran a quasi-state for a few years in the Vanni.

In his book “Brave New World Order” (Orbis Books, 1992, paper), Jack Nelson Pallmeyer identified several characteristics of a National Security State, the primary one of which is

“the military not only guarantees the security of the state against all internal and external enemies, it has enough power to determine the overall direction of the society.. In a National Security State the military exerts important influence over political, economic, as well as military affairs… Authentic democracy depends on participation of the people. National Security States limit such participation in a number of ways: They sow fear and thereby narrow the range of public debate. they restrict and distort information; and they define policies in secret and implement those policies through covert channels and clandestine activities. The state justifies such actions through rhetorical pleas of “higher purpose” and vague appeals to “national security.”

Thirty years of war had significant impact on democratic institutions in Sri Lanka. During the final push to defeat the LTTE the GoSL discredited the idea of peace. Those opposed to war and those who spoke for Human Rights were termed ‘traitors’. Since the war ended the government plans to build a War Museum rather than a peace and reconciliation museum. An astrologer who predicted difficult days ahead for the powers that be in Colombo was recently arrested and would be under observation of three months. Meanwhile, according to the Army commander the military would be expanded by 50,000, even though the war is over and Sri Lanka has one of the largest militaries per capita in South Asia. The recruitment of additional troops to man camps in the north-east is of particular concern and suggests that rather than restore substantive democracy, the government plans a form of military occupation with the collusion of allied Tamil paramilitary groups. Moderate Tamil voices remain marginalized and have raised questions regarding the legitimacy of elections in a region with such a large displaced population.

While the country is broke and in need of an IMF loan to pay among other things the salaries of soldiers and an enormous cabinet of ministers that includes a number of the president’s relatives, the mindset of militarism lives on. The Sri Lanka government’s internment of 280,000 Tamils, some of whom were witnesses to war crimes and may give evidence, in barbwire fenced camps and treatment of them as a national security threat after claiming to have ‘rescued’ them from the LTTE; as well as, failure to lift Emergency Rule and disarm paramilitaries in the north and east; the phenomenon of white van abductions of journalists, the failure to start a process of demilitarization and reconciliation with the minorities has led the United States to extend travel warnings for those wishing to visit Sri Lanka. It seems unlikely that western tourists would return any time soon.

It is axiomatic that, as externalised threats are perceived and nations go to war, civil liberties and rights in the domestic sphere are eroded. This phenomenon was observed by Max Weber, a founding father of the discipline of sociology. While a number of ministries have proliferated those that actually have power to make and implement policy are few and controlled by the President and his brothers. Nepotism is extremis! During the last few years of the conflict development projects were required to go through and get clearance from the Ministry of Defense. Such centralization has weakened democracy and strengthened the grip of the ruling family on power. One Rajapakse is Defense Secretary and the other, a non-elected member of parliament who also controls reconstruction in the north and east. It is widely understood that together the triumvirate control seventy percent of the economy via control of key Ministries.

Within days of the celebrations following the capture of LTTE’s de facto capital in January 2009, one of the island’s leading journalists, Lasantha Wickrematunge, Editor-in-Chief of the Sunday Leader newspaper, a liberal anti-establishment paper known for exposing corruption and nepotism in the state apparatus, was assassinated in broad daylight in Colombo. At his funeral, where thousands gathered, an effigy of the Sri Lanka’s President, Mahinda Rajapaksa, was burnt. The slain journalist’s funeral was attended by political leaders, media representatives, civil society organisations and senior foreign diplomats in Colombo. The slain journalist, who was also a lawyer, had penned his own obituary three day’s before his assassination: “And then they came for me”, naming in all but words his killers. His final editorial published posthumously which has come to be known as the ‘letter from the grave’ constitutes a powerful indictment on the regime that would be hard to shake off in a country where astrology, the symbolic and uncanny, carries significant weight in politics. Minimally, the state remains accused of promoting a ‘culture of impunity’ that has rendered Sri Lanka ‘one of the world’s most dangerous places for journalists’ according to the organisation, ‘Reporters without Borders’. In the past two years, at least eight journalists have been killed in the country, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

As the war (including an information war) escalated, the phenomenon of extra-judicial killings rose. Wickramatunge’s assassination was in the wake of a series of killings and intimidation of journalists and lawyers, and attacks on independent media institutions in the south.. In August 2008, Sri Lanka lost its seat in the United Nation’s Human Rights Council and has since turned down several requests of the United Nations Human Rights Commission to set up an observer mission to monitor the situation in the country. At the end of the war the United Nations Human Rights Commission called for an independent inquiry into war crimes by the parties to the conflict.

The culture of militarization and impunity that the conflict had enabled needs to be rolled back. Sri Lanka has one of the largest standing armies per capita in South Asia and alternative jobs would be necessary for the over 200,000 troops. The military victory over the LTTE is only one half of the solution to building a peaceful and stable polity. It would also be necessary to address the intra-group dynamics of conflict. Many of those who fought and died and were disabled were from poor rural communities and marginalized castes groups. A war economy had grown and many of the rural poor worked as soldiers and (women go as housemaids to the Middle East). In a time of rising unemployment due to the global recession it would be necessary to boost the economy and provide jobs.

Myth and reality about the “invincibility” of the LTTE: The Global Context

The ‘invincibility’ of the Liberation Tigers of Eelam and the terror threat they posed to world peace may have been often exaggerated. There were several reasons for the defeat of the LTTE. Principle among them was the changing global security environment that became increasingly hostile to groups that used terrorist methods post 9/11, as well as the egotism and compounding mistakes of the LTTE leader- Prabakaran, principle among which was the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi – former Prime Minister of India. Prior to 9/11 and the global war on terror the LTTE and its transnational network had grown and benefited from a period of relatively unfettered globalization at the end of the Cold War also given considerable international sympathy for the plight of minority Tamil speaking peoples in Sri Lanka. It was recognized that one man’s terrorist may be another’s liberation fighter.

After 9/11 with the global “war on terror’ there was far less international space and tolerance for the organization to maneuver and the government capitalized on this fact by renaming the conflict in Sri Lanka a “war on terror” and soliciting international assistance to shut down the LTTE’s funding and supply networks from the disaspora. While the Rajapakse government waged a determined battle against the organization after abrogating the Norwegian–brokered Cease Fire in 2008, and provided the armed forces all that was needed by way of arms, ammunition, and men, the international context had made the LTTE apparently invincible in the previous decades had changed. It is also arguable that the demise of the LTTE was also largely due to its leader’s egotism and the compounding of mistakes, including the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi which had turned India against the group.

The government of Sri Lanka has very successfully assembled a group of Asian donors, prominent among them China, Japan and India to counterbalance western criticism of its conduct of the last days of the conflict. These donors place less value on human security and human rights and tend to have a state-cenric approach to security. The need to move beyond state-centric security discourses and address the root causes of conflicts in South Asia from a post-WoT’ paradigm is however increasingly apparent.

Since 9/11, instead of measured and targeted responses to terrorist acts, militarization and advocacy for military solutions have sometimes exacerbated and aggravated the root causes of conflicts that require social and political-economic solutions. Social sector and welfare state spending has been reduced with the claim that development cannot occur without defense, even though the poverty and conflict trap is a consequence of the transfer of resources that accompanies ballooning defense expenditure, socio-economic decline, increased regional and economic inequality, structural violence and aid dependence.. Increasingly, it is obvious that inclusive development and peace building is necessary for regional security in Sri Lanka, and you can’t have one without the others.

In the last three years militarization and the ‘national security state” had become pervasive with significant erosion of Sri Lanka’s democratic traditions and institutions. While the military victory over the LTTE is conclusive and there is little chance that it would regroup and return any time soon, the military victory needs to be converted into a stable and sustainable peace. Other long term, low intensity, ethno-national conflicts in the region point to the fact that groups fighting for autonomy or rights for minorities may re-group and return years or decades later as was the case in Nepal and Aceh Indonesia, unless there is a political solution that addresses the root causes of conflict. To ensure a sustainable peace the government would need to win the confidence of minority cultural groups, and work toward reconciliation and address of the root causes of the conflict. Simultaneously, it would be necessary to repair a dysfunctional democracy whose institutions were significantly eroded in the course of decades of war induced Emergency Rule, which the government has still not lifted.

Similar Posts:

• Voices of Reconciliation Radio - New Content
• Which comes first - Human Rights, Media or Terrorism?
• Sri Lanka’s Dirty War
• Militarizing the Media Mahagedera?
• Review of “Ethnic Warfare in Sri Lanka and the UN Crisis” by William Clarance

Our country is at a historical juncture with many controversies and contradictions. The resultant complex scenario leads to many questions but answers are not that easy to come by Jubliant triumphalism with deep and down to earth egoism on one hand and on the other human sufferings at its worst – worst of its kind that our history has recorded. Amidst a lot of sadness at the loss of human beings, amidst a lot of sadness of knowing that they are many who are injured maimed and had lost their eye sight and limbs, amidst reports of s insufficient food, water, medical facilities and medicine, we are at a time of the worst human suffering. The Sinhalese soldiers who are killed, the LTTE combatants who are killed, the innocent civilian’s men women, little children and grown up children and pregnant mothers, who are killed speak volumes of tragic scenarios. On the other hand there were celebrations of hoisting the national flags, the crackers and kiribath, Bailas and street singing. Happy and jubilant indeed are those who have lost their kith and kin by the LTTE. Happy indeed are those who could rejoice at the elimination of a terrorist out fit of murderers. Justifiably those who were affected may a heap a sign of relief. Citizens who abhor violence may also have sense of relief.

However, what intrigued me was why is it that the majority of the Sinhalese, all Muslims and all Tamils did not participate in the celebrations? Are they not happy that the LTTE is eliminated? No, that is not the answer. The anti LTTE Tamils, Sinhalese and Muslims who did not participate in a note of over joyed enthusiasm were a different kettle of fish. This absence presents other things. They are people with maturity who know how to act with dignity and restraint during times of crisis. They are people with a kind, humane heart and mind who can’t rejoice and be happy at such an unprecedental tragedy of human suffering. I think people like them keep the world go despite all the human short comings. They welcomed the “Good News” but were unhappy over the other events.

I am reminded of an incident in history. After the Kalinga war – when thousands of people combatants and non combatants were killed, King Asoka was so deeply troubled and moved by the carnage that he embraced Buddhist Dharma of ahimsa – non-violence. How many of our fellow citizens would be moved like king Asoka? Have those moral values become things of past, put in the dustbin of history? I keep asking without knowing the answer.

I am also puzzled at the reason for the resurgence of the Lion flag – what does the message, signify? Was Sri Lanka liberated from an imperial colonial power? Was any one prevented from hoisting the Lion flag when LTTE was in operation? Did it signify a sudden emergence of nationalism which is now different and which was dwarfed owing the LTTE presence?

While on the subject of the flag, I have a few thoughts on it. For a long time, I had consistently entertained reservations on the Lankan flag and what it conveys: As a person who is deeply anti war, and against all kinds of violence – imperial caste, class ethnic and gender. I hate all weapons of war and ferocious animals that kill human beings. The sword and the roaring lion look so violent for me. It is a subjective feeling from the time that I was a teenager and I shared my feelings and thoughts with my late father. He agreed with me but both of us had no political power for any transformation and the pen never did wield power in my experience. When we are at a time hoping for transformation, I am hoping against hope that the change over the national flag will also take place. We can follow the example of India and have a Buddhist flavour of ahimsa and an inclusive message of loving kindness, a kind of dharmic message. This is merely a wishful thinking of a concerned person. Let us eradicate violence starting from our national flag.

I can also make a connection here. The triumphant celebrations, sometimes stage-managed and with drunken participants, shouted slogans with the intention of hurting the ordinary Tamil Citizens. Some Tamils were forced to hoist the flag and ridiculing statements were hurled at them. Most of them lived in fear for three or four days, agonising with memories of the past, 1958 and 1983 and a Sinhala friend told me that in some instances 1983 was on the verge of being re-enacted. (I do not normally refer to people by ethnic or caste names but here the word “Sinhalese” has some signification, it is not a biased statement by a Tamil as someone would perceive). Did the sword and roaring lion instigate them? Or did it inspire them to be proactive. For a long time I could not be converted into a patriot or a nationalist as I felt that there is nothing to be proud of or happy about of our country, our culture. There are so many miserable human beings and many miserable conditions which marginalise a huge number our citizens on the basis on ethnicity, class, caste and gender. Violence of all kinds verbal, physical and psychological is excessively present with or without the LTTE. I find myself, as someone always sceptical or questioning the glory of nationalism. Besides, our National flag has stripes and borders to represent the Tamils, Muslims and Moors and other cultures living in Sri Lanka. The crimson back ground is supposed to represent minor religions and ethnic groups, Portuguese, Dutch and Burghers. Why this hierarchy with people who have minds and hearts of the human race who are all citizens of the country? What does it symbolically tell them? You are not the same as we. You are the others. Now that the President has in a statesmanship fashion declared in the Parliament that in Sri Lanka that we will have no minorities hereafter. We can get rid of these lines and borders that divide us and offer graciously and magnanimously everyone an equal political status.

We have had enough violence. 1958, 1977, 1983 (Counter-violence to the killing in Tinnaveli) the LTTE violence and State violence, the para military violence, the white van violence, killings of dissenters of various ideological makings. Shouldn’t we now have a flag which depicts non-violence? Ahimsa as our motto. Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims, Christians and Catholics, atheists and agnostics - no one will oppose the concept of non-violence.

I find myself re-affirming with what Bertrand Russell said. He was quite right when he said that “patriotism is the willingness to kill and be killed for trivial reasons. I am also in agreement with Samuel Johnson who wrote, patriotism is “the last refuge of a scoundrel”. Perhaps I will be named a “traitor” because I am criticising patriotism and nationalism which are considered lofty ideas. Or glorious terms.

There were many people who did not hoist the national flag, some in protest, some couldn’t be bothered with symbolic actions and a few others dismissed it philosophically saying and thinking, there are many other priorities in life. These men and women were not forced to do, though a few Tamils were forced by the crowds through a mob-mentality to hoist the national flag. Many Government offices, Private Business concerns and organisations and Institutes were not requested to close office. But Nationalists could order that certain offices should close. The question that begs the answer is can the so called nationalists force and threaten independent free thinking citizens to do something which they don’t considers worth while doing? Can they be ordered to pay large sums of money towards any cause to which they don’t subscribe. Do the nationalists have special rights and privileges to be violent, verbally or physically requesting something in the name of a cause? Nationalism or patriotism or of helping the disabled and maimed is certainly different from being ordered and threatened.

This indeed is a sad state of affairs, of unprincipled minds and misdirected sentiments.

Similar Posts:

• National flags and the symbolism of accomodating minorities
• Concerned Tamils, but what about the rest?
• From Akkaraipattu
• For a Sri Lankan Nationalism
• TMVP in same dustbin as LTTE in the past?

By VERNON CLEMENT JONES ~ Guardian Business Editor ~ vernon@nasguard.com:

Loan loss provisioning at the country's commercial banks continues to lose ground against growing arrears, says the latest Central Bank report. It's a phenomenon only expected to worsen.

"Banks augmented loan loss provisions by $3.0 million, boosting the ratio of provisions to total arrears by 18 basis points to 23.44 percent," reads the May economic survey. "This corresponded to new loan provisions of $10.0 million, partly offset by a $6.9 million net write-off against loans provisioned for earlier.

"However, as the growth in non-performing loans outpaced the increase in provisions, the ratio of total provisions to non-performing loans fell by 5 basis points to 42.43 percent."

The gap between the cash the banks put aside to cover bad debt and the actual bad debt is expected to widen as the institutions continue to grapple with the growth in delinquent accounts.

Their hesitance to move revenue out of the plus column and into the minus one is also part of the equation, although all are expressing confidence in their respective levels of provisioning.

The quality of their collective book continued to deteriorate in May, however, says the bank report, with the value of private sector loans in payment arrears of at least one month growing by $6.1 million (0.7 percent) to $847.3 million. The associated ratio of arrears to total loans extended by 28 basis points to 13.98 percent.

The number of arrears now beyond the 90-day mark has also started to increase.

"The average age of delinquent loans increased, arrears in the 31-90 days segment waned by $12.0 million (3.1 percent) to $373.3 million," says the Central Bank. "However, non-performing loans — those over 90 days past due and on which banks stopped accruing interest — advanced by $18.2 million (4.0 percent) to $468.2 million."

The discrepancy between provisioning and bad debt has actually grown since the dark days of September and the resulting uptick in layoffs as area hotels and, indeed, businesses across all sectors felt the brunt of the global recession.

While layoffs have slowed, the long-term effects of a depressed income are now being felt by those still on the job. Work weeks little more than one or two shifts have obliterated their ability to keep current with loan payments. That reality suggests the commercial lenders have months and possibly years of growing non-accruals to deal with.

The divide also runs counter to the expectations of one financial advisor. Last January, Ken Kerr of Providence Advisors told Guardian Business the banks would move quickly to close the gap.

"I expect that in the next reporting period we'll see provisioning grow to reflect the growth in arrears and the state of the present and future economy," he said. "If they don't do that then they're very confident about the quality of their loan portfolio or expect a turnaround in the global economy much sooner than everybody else or they could be extremely aggressive in going after borrowers as a way of encouraging growth of their book and because those still able to qualify have more options open to them and the competition to win their business is greater."

That same reduced number of fully-employed Bahamians — with earnings holding against recessionary forces — is also making it tougher for banks to put relatively risk-free loans on their books.

July 8, 2009

I’m not too hopeful in the use hydrogen as a replacement for oil that burns and kills our planet, but there might be hope in the future. Apparently urine can be turned into hydrogen.

Now, as Ariel Schwartz of Fast Company reports, Ohio University researcher Geraldine Botte has come up with a nickel-based electrode to oxidize (NH2)2CO, otherwise known as urea, the major component of animal urine.

Because urea’s four hydrogen atoms are less tightly bound to nitrogen than the hydrogen bound to oxygen in water molecules, it takes less energy to break them apart: Just 0.037 Volts need to be applied across the cell, against the 1.23 Volts needed to break down water.

This means the energy balance of urea-derived hydrogen could be considerably better from start to finish than projections for other so-called pathways for obtaining the highly combustible gas.

Given the early stage of this research, we’re betting that the Honda and General Motors fuel-cell researchers aren’t exactly rushing down to do deals with their local sewage plants.

можно ли найти работу на работном сайте с закрытым для работодателей резюме? нет, конечно! можно не удивляться, что на резюме никто не пишет и не звонит? в италии, можно, не одна я такая, кто ищет и не находит! а можно ли полтора года не знать, что твое резюме спрятано от взляда посторонних и его видишь только ты??? оказывается, тоже можно!
сегодня я открыла в себе кретинизм2.0, причем совершенно случайно. залезла на сайт обновлять резюме и менять пароль, в связи со смертью всех cookies, и боковым зрением на баннере увидела вопрос- а каков уровень видимости твоего резюме СЕГОДНЯ? не кликая баннер,я начала проверять ВСЕ свои настройки (после замены пароля)и вот выяснила, что резюме было написано "в стол" и только с сегодняшнего дня можно ждать хоть какого-то эффекта от него.

US President Barack Obama has urged Russia to turn from the past, emphasising the common goals the US shares with its former Cold War rival.

He told young graduates in Moscow they were the "last generation" to be born in a "divided world".

Mr Obama sought to reassure the country that the US sought a "strong, peaceful and prosperous" Russia.

The speech comes on the second day of Mr Obama's visit to Moscow and followed his first meeting with Vladimir Putin.

During the breakfast talks he told the former president turned prime minister that he had done "extraordinary work" leading Russia.

I read with interest the concerns of a group of Tamils on the situation of IDPs and their suggestions for a speedy recovery of a human tragedy. However, I am a little concerned and in fact unhappy why only a group of Tamils should be concerned? Aren’t the Sinhalese, Muslims, Malays and Burghers not concerned about the plight of the IDPs. Why this separatism on an issue of humanitarian recovery? Why shouldn’t there be a common platform – a common platform has many significations. Ideologically it speaks of National unity, a spirit to togetherness, solidarity and collective and cooperative efforts of a common citizenship. Practically it means greater numerical involvement and greater political strength. The greater the number, the greater the impact and it leads to seriousness of purpose which the many actors in the field – the state, the judiciary, the civil society, religious and theological groups, the church, the temples and the Viharas – will pay attention. A meaningful weightage may be added to the act.

There are many among us who take humanitarian, sympathetic, empathetic and progressive views on the unfortunate present tragedy. Newspaper columnists such as Sharni, Tissaranee Gunasekera, Lyn Ockerz, Emile Vander Poorten, retired civil servants who were trained in ideas of liberalism such as Somapala Gunadheera, the old leftists trained in Internationalism such as Upali Cooray, CRM members, who know the civil rights of the citizens, educationalists and university dons such as Prof. Ganantha Obeysekera, the entire women’s movement who believe in sisterhood is global and many others who will take common cause with this group.

It is true that some old stalwarts of the old left and the CRM are lost to us and some of the new left of the EPRLF, EROS, JVP have become nationalists and ultra nationalists. However, there are many who are not leftist and who do not subscribe to any isms, but have emerged as concerned human beings. It has been reported, I report gleefully, that the Sinhalese in the border villages who ere brutalised by the LTTE are also contributing relief materials to the affected IDPs. They have commonsense or perhaps folk wisdom to isolate suffering human beings of the present from the past or present violent people of the LTTE. We have lost Regi Siriwardhena and Bishop Lakshman Wickremasinghe, but we have others.

Let us go back to the old traditions of the Youth Congress of Jaffna, the old left – LSSP and CP, the CRM, Citizens Committee and such organisations and groups where ethnic, religious, Caste and Class belongings of the constituent members didn’t matter for unified affirmative actions.

Let us build a common platform of concerned citizens and not merely “concerned Tamils.”

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• Vaharai starves - International Community is Silent
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Mike sent in a note letting us know that the campers at Camp Wenonah are planting trees to make the world a little better. The trees were donated from the business Love Trees which aims to, obviously, plant more trees.

From Mike:

Each camper, POLARIS, and WCIT is planting a tree at Camp this Period thanks to donations from LoveTrees. Neat little idea – they donated 2000 trees to the Canadian Camping Association

More on Love Trees:

Love Trees is a business built on giving.

• giving kids a Wish Tree as an educational tool to as many children as we can;
• giving businesses and individuals a chance to help kids and the planet by purchasing tree planting certificates;
• giving the planet more trees;
• giving environmental charities a portion of every sale

.

Love Trees manages a powerful and unique educational tree planting program. We sell Wish Tree Certificates to clients worldwide. Love Trees then donates and distributes tree seedlings to schools and kid’s organizations in North America and Africa so kids can have a Wish Tree to plant and make a wish for the planet. It’s a great way to learn about the environment – and help make the world a better place!

By JASMIN BONIMY ~ NG Staff Reporter ~ jasmin@nasguard.com:

A 10-year national plan proposed for education calls for the introduction of a special tax and national lottery, to better fund the nation's public schools and programs designed to produce more well-rounded productive students.

The 65-page document proposes that a referendum on the national lottery be held by December 2011. However, such a referendum appears unlikely as Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham has already indicated that no more referenda will be held under his leadership.

As a means of funding education, the Ministry of Education also proposes in the document that departure tax be increased by $2 per passenger. This recommendation and the recommendation for a national lottery are listed as short term objectives in the 10-year plan, which was the focus of attention at the National Education Summit at the Wyndham Nassau Resort yesterday.

Another short term objective is that the government allocate at least 17 percent of the annual national budget to education in a bid to reflect its commitment to the sector.

This goal has already been achieved, according to Minister of Education Carl Bethel, who noted in his contribution to debate on the 2009/2010 budget in the House of Assembly last month that the government allocated 17 percent of the recurrent expenditure to education.

This allocation, $24,666,062.00, includes the budget for the Ministry of Education, the Department of Education, The College of The Bahamas and The Bahamas Technical and Vocational Institute.

The proposed national education plan calls for appropriate fiscal management mechanisms to be put in place in the short term to reduce wastage by seeking to better maintain physical plants and other facilities. The document suggests these measures be fully implemented by July 2012.

The introduction of the education tax was listed as one of the proposed long term objectives. Also included in that category was the objective to reduce building repairs and costs by implementing ongoing maintenance of all school facilities.

Other long term objectives call for the implementation of programs to assist newly arrived immigrant children in adjusting to Bahamian society, and the extension of the school day to give more time to extracurricular activities and supervision of projects and homework assignments.

The report also recommends that closed circuit television systems be installed in all New Providence and Grand Bahama schools.

The comprehensive report addresses many different areas of education in The Bahamas, including developing national curricula that are more relevant to the needs of society; meeting the needs of special students; furnishing schools with the necessary training resources; improving the quality of education at the tertiary level; attracting quality teachers and constructing and properly maintaining school buildings.

While speaking to a room full of educators at the Education Summit yesterday, Bethel called the 10-year plan a visionary document designed to strengthen the education system.

"As you put your collective minds together to examine and refine the 10-year education plan, it is envisioned that each of you will be a catalyst for change in your sphere of influence and will work zealously to ensure that goals of the 10-year education plan are achieved," Bethel said.

In a message contained in the document, the education minister said the plan provides the "blueprint for transformation".

Education officials said they are seeking to create a Bahamian education system that promotes the highest standards and produces students who are intellectually curious, compassionate, responsible and capable of making a meaningful contribution to the country's productivity, prosperity and peace.

The proposed plan is being considered amid ongoing concerns in various quarters about the state of education in The Bahamas.

A July 2005 report released by the Coalition for Education Reform entitled 'Bahamian Youth: The Untapped Source' highlighted so-called learning gaps within the educational system.

Pointing to the 2004 Bahamas General Certificate of Secondary Education (BGCSE) examination results, which averaged a D that year, the report said: "This data substantiates the conclusion that the state of Bahamian education is unacceptable. This is reality. These are the brutal facts and you absolutely cannot make a series of good decisions without first confronting the brutal facts."

The national grade average in the BGCSEs rose to a D plus last year. Results for 2009 examinations have not yet been released.

The Education Summit continues today.


Tuesday, July 7, 2009
thenassauguardian