Rajapaksa's London speech cancelled over protests

[KS]

Rajapaksa's London speech cancelled over protests

Colombo: Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa's scheduled speech to the Oxford Union in London on Thursday has been cancelled over fears of protests by Tamil minority groups demanding probes of alleged human rights violations, government officials said Wednesday.

Rajapaksa, currently in London, was invited by Oxford University to speak. But Tamil groups said they had called on the organisers to cancel the event.

In a statement, presidential secretary Lalith Weeratunga announced the cancellation for security reasons.

'This is a decision that has been made unilaterally by the Oxford Union, reportedly as a result of pressure applied by pro-LTTE (Tamil rebel) activists,' the statement said.

The Oxford Union confirmed the event had been called off, saying that 'due to the sheer scale of the expected protests, we do not feel that the talk can reasonably and safely go ahead as planned'.

Rajapaksa's visit to London came amid fresh allegations over human rights abuses that had taken place in the final phase of the military operations against Tamil rebels before the conflict was brought to an end in May 2009.

New footage of a massacre which is said to have been carried out by the Sri Lankan military was broadcast on British television Channel 4.

The defence ministry in Colombo and Sri Lanka's High Commission in London have denied the allegations.

 

[Lankan Ranger]

Sri Lanka President meets UK & EU parliamentarians

Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa who was on a visit to the United Kingdom met several British & European Union parliamentarians in London Wednesday.

Relations between Sri Lanka, UK & EU stable & good

 

[TenjikuKensei]

Rajapaksa's London speech cancelled over protests

Colombo: Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa's scheduled speech to the Oxford Union in London on Thursday has been cancelled over fears of protests by Tamil minority groups demanding probes of alleged human rights violations, government officials said Wednesday.

Rajapaksa, currently in London, was invited by Oxford University to speak. But Tamil groups said they had called on the organisers to cancel the event.

In a statement, presidential secretary Lalith Weeratunga announced the cancellation for security reasons.

'This is a decision that has been made unilaterally by the Oxford Union, reportedly as a result of pressure applied by pro-LTTE (Tamil rebel) activists,' the statement said.

The Oxford Union confirmed the event had been called off, saying that 'due to the sheer scale of the expected protests, we do not feel that the talk can reasonably and safely go ahead as planned'.

Rajapaksa's visit to London came amid fresh allegations over human rights abuses that had taken place in the final phase of the military operations against Tamil rebels before the conflict was brought to an end in May 2009.

New footage of a massacre which is said to have been carried out by the Sri Lankan military was broadcast on British television Channel 4.

The defence ministry in Colombo and Sri Lanka's High Commission in London have denied the allegations.

good news.

I believe the recent Wiki leaks information (diplomatic cables by the American Ambassador to Lanka to the US) implicating Rajapaksa and his cohorts in human rights abuses against Tamils also played a major part.


Us Memo Accuses SriLanka President of war crimes

Sri Lanka - Ambassador reports Sri Lankan President responsible for "alleged war crimes"



some excerpts

Responsibility for many of the alleged crimes rests with the country's senior civilian and military leadership, including President Rajapakse and his brothers and opposition candidate General Fonseka".

~Diplomatic cable sent by US Ambassador ,January 2010.


Reactions

Liliana De Marco Coenen, a lawyer at the International Bar Association (IBA), told Channel 4 News: "The IBA supports accountability for war crimes and there are a number of actions, including the wilful killing of civilians, which are recognised to be war crimes under international law."


Amnesty International called on the UK police to investigate the war crimes allegations while the President is on UK soil.

"We are calling on the police and UK judiciary to examine any of the evidence alleging war crimes and crimes against humanity in Sri Lanka…to see whether any of the members of the Sri Lankan government who are represented in the UK have run afoul of international laws which would trigger UK jurisdiction," Mr Zarifi told Channel 4 News





^^^ No wonder Rajapaksa wanted to stay out of the limelight

 

[Lankan Ranger]

DAVID MILIBAND FOCUSED ON SRI LANKAN WAR ‘TO WIN VOTES’ - WIKILEAKS

The former UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband’s campaign to champion international aid and human rights during last year’s humanitarian rights crisis in Sri Lanka was driven largely by the need to win the votes of the UK’s large Sri Lankan Tamil population, according to the latest Wikileaks releases.

Richard Mills, a political officer at the US embassy, reported: “He said that with UK elections on the horizon and many Tamils living in Labour constituencies with slim majorities, the government is paying particular attention to Sri Lanka.”

The diplomatic campaign by former foreign secretary David Miliband to champion aid and human rights during the Sri Lankan humanitarian crisis last year was largely driven by domestic political calculations, according to a Foreign Office official.

A leaked May 2009 cable from the US embassy in London quotes the official, Tim Waite, a Foreign Office team leader on Sri Lanka, explaining Miliband’s intense focus on the plight of the country’s Tamils in terms of UK electoral geography.

“Waite said that much of [Her Majesty’s government] and ministerial attention to Sri Lanka is due to the ‘very vocal’ Tamil diaspora in the UK, numbering over 300,000, who have been protesting in front of parliament since 6 April,” Richard Mills, a political officer at the US embassy, reported.

“He said that with UK elections on the horizon and many Tamils living in Labour constituencies with slim majorities, the government is paying particular attention to Sri Lanka, with Miliband recently remarking to Waite that he was spending 60% of his time at the moment on Sri Lanka.”

The Foreign Office said tonight there was nothing wrong or unusual in explaining to a foreign diplomat the political context for UK foreign policy, and a former prime ministerial envoy on Sri Lanka said that the British involvement was motivated firstly by the scale of the humanitarian crisis.

The comments quoted in the US cable were made in the midst of a flurry of activity on Sri Lanka by Miliband, as the long civil war between the government and the Tamil Tigers was reaching a bloody conclusion. At the end, some local doctors estimated that as many as a thousand people, mostly Tamils, were dying each day.

The foreign secretary had just visited Sri Lanka with his French counterpart, Bernard Kouchner on 29 April.

Miliband told parliament two days later that the joint trip had been “to highlight the need to bring the conflict to an end in a way that minimises further civilian casualties; to press the case for the humanitarian relief effort to be ratcheted up, as the UN and EU have been calling for; and to make clear the need for a long-term political settlement that meets the aspirations of all communities in Sri Lanka.”

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 LONDON 001082
NOFORN
SIPDIS
DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/INS (BINDI PATEL)
DEPARTMENT ALSO FOR EEB/IFD/OMA (MARLENE SAKAUE)
EO 12958 DECL: 05/07/2019
TAGS PREL, PGOV,EAID, CE,UK
SUBJECT: SRI LANKA

Sri Lanka News-Adaderana-Truth First - David Miliband focused on Sri Lankan war ‘to win votes’ - Wikileaks

 

[KS]

Good that the world community is recognising the war crimes committed by the Sri Lankan Army during the closing stages of the war when surrendering LTTE soldiers were deliberately shot and unarmed civilians too killed.

 

[Lankan Ranger]

Good that the world community is recognising the war crimes committed by the Sri Lankan Army during the closing stages of the war when surrendering LTTE soldiers were deliberately shot and unarmed civilians too killed.

Are you joking?

 

[Lankan Ranger]

President Mahinda Rajapaksa met Dr. Liam Fox Secretary for Defense of United Kingdom in London.