“If under aged girls are statutorily raped and the sexual act was however with consent, it may be good to have legislation that allows the perpetrator to marry the ‘victim’ with her consent.”
As the rates of Rapes are increasing, especially by the Armed Forces, the Nation is worried.
The reaction of Rajapakshe is given at the top of this post.
What prompted him to say what he said?
This,
Sri Lanka Guardian Reports,
Last November a soldier was arrested for sexually abusing an eight year old girl.
The girl, the daughter of an ASP, was waiting in an anteroom in the CMC while her father was at a discussion about the Commonwealth Summit. The soldier was the bodyguard of a colonel who was at the same discussion. The girl revealed what was done to her by the ‘Army Uncle’ (“using words according to her knowledge”) only after she went home .
Any reasonable person would know why that child did not scream during the abuse, why she remained mute until she was safe at home. Her silence and inaction were functions of terror and ignorance. But if Lanka enacts the proposed Rape Marriage Law, the soldier might be able to argue that he abused the child with her consent. After all, she did not protest, did she? Or tell her father when he came in? And the President himself thinks that children can ‘consent’ to rape: “If under aged girls are statutorily raped and the sexual act was however with consent, it may be good to have legislation that allows the perpetrator to marry the ‘victim’ with her consent.”
A Lankan must be over 18 to vote, to drive, to smoke and to drink. Such limits are imposed globally because until a certain age is reached, a human being lacks the capacity to make mature and informed choices about important matters. Statutory rape provisions too belong in same category. Their main purpose is to prevent adults from exploiting the ignorance, the trust, the inexperience and the terror of children.
President Rajapaksa thinks otherwise. He says children can ‘consent’ to a sexual act. So when a male adult rapes a female child and claims that he did so with her consent and she is too confused or scared or shocked to prove otherwise, he can escape punishment, by promising to marry her when she is 18.
Currently statutory rape laws apply to children under 16. How old does the President think a female-child has to be, in order to ‘consent’ to a ‘sexual act’? Fourteen? Twelve? Younger?
The above-mentioned incident indicates, again, how vulnerable North-Eastern children must be, under de facto military occupation. It also proves that child abuse/rape is a problem for all Lankan parents and children. But what hope is there when the Presidential father thinks that children can ‘consent’ to rape, and that rapists should be allowed to marry their victims?”
The Army has honed its skills in raping,by raping Tamils .
Rakpakshe government has been trumpeting that they have been Developmental Plans for the Tamils in Sri Lanka for Tamils post LTTE, genocide era.
Killing of Tamils,Sri Lanka
Facts seem to indicate other wise.
1.Victors,though this term is an inappropriate term to use for killing your own citizens,this is the term what Rajapakshe government uses,
need to be magnanimous,
Lanka Government has opened up a Museum on the War , insulting the Tamils and is promoting it as a Tourist attraction.(read my post for Details)
Sri Lanka’s War Museum.
2.The Government has announced training programmes for The Tamils.
Tamil Girls are molested and Tamil men return with fear truly terrified.
3.Religious Freedom,Attacks on Muslims.
Though the Sri Lanka Government speaks of tolerance; the reality is otherwise.
Muslims were made to go against the Tamils and after the Genocide Muslims have become the target of attacked by the Buddhist extremists.(read my spot )
This is what The Institute on Religious and Public Policy has to say in its 2012 Report.
”
(15) The BBC reported in January 2011 that foreign Muslim preachers in Sri Lanka were ordered to leave the country for violating visa regulations. Sir Lanka’s immigration head Chulanada Perera told AFP news agency, “They have violated immigration laws. A tourist visa is to have a holiday or visit friends and family, and not to preach Islam”.
(16) In September 2011, mobs, allegedly led by Buddhist monks, destroyed a Muslim religious site in the Buddhist city of Anuradhapura.
(17) Public Relations Minister Mervyn Silva, who is a member of the Buddhist majority party, organized and led a protest march in September 2011 to force Hindus to stop the traditional religious ceremony that involves public animal sacrifice. Minister Silva argued that animal sacrifice harms the public image of Sri Lanka. Police reported that they had a court order to halt the animal sacrifice due to requests from activists, and increased the security level in the area because of the unrest.
(18) According to a news report in November 2011, the Ministry of Education did not allow Catholic and Christian students to register for religion exams in English. The Ministry offered examinations only in Sinhala and Tamil. The Archbishop of Colombo, Cardinal Ranjith appealed to the government in his writing, “the majority of students follow their religion in the “English medium,” and therefore should have the opportunity to do the exam in that language”. However, the Ministry of Education rejected his appeal.”
4. Resettlement of Tamils.
Rather than resettling displaced Tamils, since the war ended, the Sri Lankan armed forces have occupied a further 7,000 sq km of land owned by Tamil people.
So what do the government’s claims of resettlement mean?
“According to the government’s own figures as at 1st July 2011, 258,446 had been ‘returned’ or ‘resettled’ from welfare camps, leaving 12,661 in the Kadirgamar, Anandakumarasawmi (Zone 1), Arunachalam (Zone III) IDP camps. The most current figures suggest that only 7,440 persons remain in these camps, insinuating that all others have been returned or resettled.
“What the statistics do not reveal is that over 200,000 persons in the North and East have not been returned to their places of origin. These persons either continue to be confined in transit camps or have been compelled to take shelter with host families [elsewhere].
“Such persons include those displaced from Valikamam North in the Jaffna Peninsula, Sampur in the Trincomalee District, and several other areas in the Vanni.”
– M.A. Sumanthiran, TNA parliamentarian. See The Hindu’s report here.“
Worse is the government is moving two Sinhalese families for one family of Tamils being resettled in Tamil Areas.
Now in Trincomalee,which used to be a Tamil majority area, Sinhalese are equal to Tamils numerically.
5.Lands of the Tamils have been confiscated , and are either with the Military of handed over to Sinhalese.
6.The Military regime is so tight that even for a family function The Tamils have to get permission from the military, which, usually, is refused.
7.Rape of Tamil Women.
Can rape be far behind when Sri Lanka army is on Duty?
Rapes and killing of Tamil Men are routine.
“( June 06, 2012, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian)Women and children are at the receiving end of serious crimes due to political interference and the failure of the police to carry out law and order in the country states Socialist Women’s Union (SWU) and pointed out that a woman is raped somewhere in Sri Lanka every 90 minutes.
SWU points out that this state is due to the introduction of the free economy to the country which destroyed human relationships and created a society that decides everything on money. This was stated by the National Organizer of the SWU Samanmalee Gunasinghe at a special media meeting held at the head office of the JVP at Pelawatta today (5th).”(Srilanka Guardian 6 June, 2012)
Tamils raped post War,Genocide.
Report by Human Rights Watch.
Published on Feb 26, 2013
(London, February 26, 2013) — Sri Lankan security forces have been using rape and other forms of sexual violence to torture suspected members or supporters of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. While widespread rape in custody occurred during the armed conflict that ended in May 2009, Human Rights Watch found that politically motivated sexual violence by the military and police continues to the present.
The 140-page report, “‘We Will Teach You a Lesson’: Sexual Violence against Tamils by Sri Lankan Security Forces,” provides detailed accounts of 75 cases of alleged rape and sexual abuse that occurred from 2006-2012 in both official and secret detention centers throughout Sri Lanka. In the cases documented by Human Rights Watch, men and women reported being raped on multiple days, often by several people, with the army, police, and pro-government paramilitary groups frequently participating.
This is what Human Rights watch has to say on this subject.
“Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] said [press release] Monday that no progress has been made in Sri Lanka regarding respect for basic rights and liberties in the four years since the end of the country’s brutal 26-year civil war [JURIST backgrounder]. According to HRW, the government of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa [official website] has failed to investigate and prosecute alleged war crimes, has cracked down on media and human rights activists, and has continued to abuse suspectedLiberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) [CFR backgrounder] supporters, despite Rajapaska’s promise to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon [official profile]. Since 2009, government officials have reportedly threatened members of the media, civil society and the political opposition, and publications have been subject to government censorship, or, in some cases, shut down. HRW Asia Director Brad Adams said:
The Rajapaksa government seems to be hoping that broad-based repression will dampen the exercise of fundamental freedoms. But Sri Lankan activists and journalists who showed incredible resilience during wartime to bring forth the truth, will undoubtedly find a way to do so when the country is at peace.
HRW urged governments to press for an independent international investigation into wartime abuses, speak out against ongoing abuses and provide support for Sri Lankan civil society.
The Sri Lankan government has faced various allegations of human rights violations and war crimes by civil rights organizations and the UN since the end of its civil war in 2009. In March the UN Human Rights Council passed a resolution [JURIST report] to promote reconciliation and accountability in Sri Lanka. In February Sri Lankan authorities were accused of using rape [JURIST report] as a method of interrogating members or supporters of the LTTE. Earlier that same month the UN criticized Sri Lanka for failing to investigate war crimes, and HRW pushed [JURIST reports] for an independent investigation of rights abuses.”
At last the Killer of Tamils,Mahinda Rajapakshe is being served summons to appear before a US Court for his genocide of Tamils.
US Court Notice.
The complaint is available in PDF format in the Link provided.
It took an US court to take this step .
The Tamil Nadu Politicians who garner votes on the blood of SriLankan Tamils could and should have filed a case in India on behalf of the refugee/s living in India.
They should have filed it in UNHURT as well .
Well, they are bothered about perorations and stage-managed weeping to garner sympathy votes,Vaiko included.
What is surprising is the near silence of Indian Media on this news!
Rajapakshe is reported to be contemplating to defy court orders.
My suggestion to SriLankans who are living abroad is to file cases in individual capacity, citing cases of kin lost,missing/dead in SriLanka, in the country where they live in.
File cases in Scandinabian Countries,UK,France,Germany and of course US.
File as many as possible.
The heat on Rajapakse brothers will be immense.
Include Rajapakshe’s brothers and Fonseka as well.
The groundswell of Public Opinion in the world against Rjapakshe is mounting.
This is the correct moment to act against these maniacal killers.
For the atrocities of these butchers please read my blogs filed under Srilankan Tamils/Sri lanka.
As per order issued on the 13th day of October 2011, by the United States District Judge, Colleen Kollar-Kotelly of the District Court of District of Columbia, with respect to Civil Action No. 11-00235 (CKK) Dr. Kasippillai Manoharan, et al. v. Percy Mahendra Rajapakse, the Court Summons and the Complaint are published here in full. The 29-page complaint is published as a single PDF document, and as 29 separate jpg images, one for each page.
In a precedent setting order issued by the District Court of District of Columbia Thursday on the case against Sri Lanka’s President Rajapakse filed by three Tamil plaintiffs, Judge Kotelly authorized service by “posting the full summons and complaint on the main page of the TamilNet website,” and by publication in two Sri Lankan newspapers. Legal sources in Washington said that Rajapakse being haled into a US court to answer charges of complicity in the extra-judicial killings of plaintiffs relatives is imminent..
Judge Kotelly in her short opinion leading to the order said, ‘[h]aving evaded service in person and refusing service under the international agreement [Hague Convention] established for the purpose of service of process on international defendants, “it is not reasonably possible or practicable to give more adequate warning” to Defendant [Rajapakse] than service by publication. http://www.tamilnet.com/img/publish/2011/10/PublicationOrder10132011.pdf
“The District Court’s order authorizing service of the Torture Victims Protection Act Complaint and Summons on Sri Lanka’s President Rajapaksa via newspaper publication and posting on TamilNet marks a legal milestone in achieving accountability for the gruesome extra-judicial killings of innocent civilians ordered or condoned by the highest officials of the Sri Lankan government during the ethnic civil war.
“After service is effectuated, President Rajapaksa will be compelled to respond to the Complaint’s accusations in a court of law uncompromised by partisan politics. It can be expected that President Rajapaksa will retain an army of luxury-priced lawyers to defend him, who will attempt to throw technical legal obstacles to thwart justice. “We urgently need all available financial and moral support to achieve victory not only for the three named Plaintiffs, but for all the victims of President Rajapaksa’s atrocities. A judgment in our favor in this case would set a precedent that would underwrite copy-cat TVPA suits by other victims of Rajapaksa endorsed or sponsored extra-judicial killings or torture.”
Ge.Fonseka.Whether one agrees with Rajapakshe or not, it was totally wrong and reckless of Fonseka to discuss and disclose Defense details including of LTTE operations in public and declare that he differed with the Government in shooting down thos LTTE cadres who had come to lay down arms;had he felt so strongly , he should have resigned then and spoken out loudly.
Story:
A group of Army and Military Police personnel had forcefully taken away Gen. Sarath Fonseka a short while ago. He was arrested while he was having a friendly discussion with leaders of several political parties. http://www.thecolombotimes.com/defence-news/11473–gen-sarath-fonseka-arrested.html
When Gen. Fonseka was arrested the Leader of the JVP Somawansa Amarsinghe, Parliamentarian Sunil Handunneththi, the Leader of Western People’s Front Mano Ganeshan and the Leader of SLMC Rauff Hakeem were having a discussion with Gen. Fonseka after they had concluded a press conference at Gen. Fonseka’s office.
At the moment Gen. Fonseka’s office has been encircled by security forces and party leaders are stuck inside say reports .’
If the Government says ‘Fonseka’ betrayed the country’, it is an admission of guilt.
While the world has been paying its attention only to Osama,Pakistan,North Korea and Climate Change,Sri Lanka has quietly executed Genocide of Tamils.
Would the world have kept quiet if a tragedy of this magnitude takes place in in Europe?
Where are the Asian countries and Human Rights Activists?
The Sri Lankan government says the UN has asked it to explain allegations that Tamil Tiger rebel leaders were executed as they tried to surrender.
The president’s office said it was studying the request and would take any action necessary.
The claims – rejected by the government – were first made in a Sri Lankan newspaper and attributed to Sri Lankan ex-military chief Gen Sarath Fonseka.
Gen Fonseka has since said his remarks were misunderstood.
The general, a candidate in next month’s presidential election, has said he was only repeating what he had been told by journalists who had been at the scene.
However, government officials have accused Gen Fonseka of “betrayal”.
After the war’s bloody end in May, some diplomats alleged that the army summarily killed a group of surrendering people led by senior Tiger rebels.
But the Sri Lankan government has said they were in fact shot by other rebel fighters.
Gen Fonseka’s comments caused a storm of controversy
The UN’s request came from its special rapporteur on extrajudicial killings, Philip Alston.
The statement from President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s office said the UN “has asked the government to provide explanations with regard to the circumstances of the death of three senior LTTE [Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam] cadres and their families at the last stages of military operations to defeat the LTTE in May this year”.
The Sri Lanka’s government crushing military victory ended the Tigers’ quarter-century war to create a separate state for ethnic minority Tamils.
The UN estimates that up to 7,000 civilians died in the final stages of the war, although the government disputes the figures.
Both sides were accused of human rights violations and atrocities during the long conflict.
‘War without witness’
During the war’s last few months it was difficult to obtain information from the battle zone as there were no independent monitors on the ground and media access to the conflict zone was strictly restricted.
As a result, Western nations described the conflict as a war without witness.
Analysts say despite its repeated denials, the Sri Lankan government may find it difficult to convince the outside world, unless there is a credible independent investigation into the final stages of the conflict. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8425091.stm
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