reuters.com,  Wed Jan 24 09:46:50 EST 2007

    NEW YORK (Reuters) - Sri Lanka's government is colluding in the abduction of children as soldiers by militants seen as an ally in a raging civil war with Tamil Tiger rebels, U.S.-based rights group Human Rights Watch said on Wednesday.

While the Sri Lankan government and renegades led by breakaway rebel commander Karuna deny working together, Human Rights Watch echoed United Nations allegations that the abductions would have needed cooperation.

"After years of condemning child recruitment by the Tamil Tigers, the government is now complicit in the same crimes," Jo Becker, Human Rights Watch child rights advocate, said in a statement to mark the release of a new 100-page report.
Full Story


_________________
- The Academic

Karuna has nothing to do with the SLA. He and  estern tamils are on their own. I do not know what UN has to do with this case. This our problem and it  is our country. I hope the UN can keep their mouth shut.

Quote:

Karuna has nothing to do with the SLA. He and  estern tamils are on their own.

Karuna's camps are right next to army camps or even within them. His cadres fight side by side with the SLA and STF. He has kidnap gangs in Colombo known to the police and Defense Forces. When children are kidnapped they are waived past army checkpoints, and on occasion kept in army camps until they can be transferred to his camps.

When LTTE abducts use children and win wars against LTTE – they say SLA can’t fight.
When Karuna abducts (continuing LTTE traditions he is carrying forward) and use children, they say it is being supported by SLA.

The spin doctors are always trying to work for LTTE Terror cause rather than trying to solve the problem.

SJ seems to have lot of intelligence about Karuna's children than Prabha's children.

When LTTE was kicked out of the East (apperently), all of a sudden the Karuna's children issue
came up.  It tells you how malicious LTTE press is.


_________________
.... inspire me

Ouch, the HRW report has said what we already know. Can't these blokes say something new for a start ?

Stephen Jones wrote:

Quote:

Karuna has nothing to do with the SLA. He and  estern tamils are on their own.

Karuna's camps are right next to army camps or even within them. His cadres fight side by side with the SLA and STF. He has kidnap gangs in Colombo known to the police and Defense Forces. When children are kidnapped they are waived past army checkpoints, and on occasion kept in army camps until they can be transferred to his camps.

They are only stories crecated by the LTTE: the whole world knows who take the children to fight against the SLA.

hardX wrote:

When LTTE abducts use children and win wars against LTTE – they say SLA can’t fight.
When Karuna abducts (continuing LTTE traditions he is carrying forward) and use children, they say it is being supported by SLA.

The spin doctors are always trying to work for LTTE Terror cause rather than trying to solve the problem.

SJ seems to have lot of intelligence about Karuna's children than Prabha's children.

When LTTE was kicked out of the East (apperently), all of a sudden the Karuna's children issue
came up.  It tells you how malicious LTTE press is.

It appears endemic in this forum to construe any critique of the government as support for the LTTE. Considering that the forum is linked to The Lanka Academic... It sounds more like subjective opinion.

It would be prudent to note that this HRW report also refers to LTTE Recruitment of Children: http://hrw.org/reports/2007/srilanka0107/7.htm#_Toc156890913

A few other reports that criticise the LTTE...

http://hrw.org/english/docs/2003/08/07/slanka6288.htm
http://hrw.org/english/docs/2004/04/26/slanka8495.htm
http://hrw.org/english/docs/2004/06/28/slanka8976.htm
http://hrw.org/english/docs/2004/11/10/slanka9653.htm
http://hrw.org/english/docs/2004/11/10/slanka9651.htm
http://hrw.org/reports/2004/srilanka1104/
http://hrw.org/english/docs/2004/12/20/slanka9918.htm
http://hrw.org/english/docs/2006/03/16/slanka13011.htm
http://hrw.org/reports/2006/ltte0306/
http://hrw.org/english/docs/2006/03/14/slanka12889.htm
http://hrw.org/english/docs/2005/01/14/slanka10016.htm
http://hrw.org/english/docs/2005/01/14/slanka10016.htm
http://hrw.org/english/docs/2004/12/20/canada9914.htm



____
Previously "oh_yeah"

The belief that this forum has to do anything with ‘Academic’ is wrong.

I believe most of the TLA contributors are not working in academia, it is possible majority of the users here are IT related.  Once upon a time most of us were in school and the TLA was bourn during that time.


_________________
.... inspire me

True or not, accusations hurt. [The Human Rights Watch is a credible group. What they mean to say is that the GOSL is not being aggressive in protecting its Tamil child citizens. Some here suggest they have no business in Sri Lanka. Sorry, that time of sovereignty has passed, as we do live in a world where there is ‘responsibility to protect.’ The Serb massacres of the 1990s ensured this, though there is no formal law yet.]

The question is fast looming for Karuna. If he is going to be a military actor, then he has to do so within the remit of an accountable and legitimate force, which cannot be accused of recruiting children or abusing power via typical Tiger tactics of using Eastern Tamils as cannon fodder. Karuna should join the SLA at a rank that is appropriate to his standing, after asking and receiving a full pardon for his role in the LTTE atrocities. He can justifiably claim to have been mislead, and upon realising this, he split from the LTTE, an action that would be his saving grace. To solidify his claim, he should pledge allegiance to Sri Lanka and encourage more Tamils to volunteer to remove the LTTE away from their future—after all it is the LTTE that has brutalised Tamils more than any other group.

Such action by Karuna will allow him a place in history as a patriotic Sri Lankan and a proud Tamil interested in protecting the Tamil way of life. If Karuna wants to be a politician, then he cannot have a military role in the months or years leading to elections in the East. Karuna cannot have a military role now if he is serious about being in politics soon, and thus he must decide. It would make more sense if he is to take the military road given his reputation on the field. It would provide him a formal and legitimate role to be part of the state and from having taken an oath to protect civilians, as that is what soldiers must do. If he were to die as a soldier, he will have achieved something in opposing the brutality of the LTTE and in civilising the politics of Sri Lanka.

Meanwhile for the state of Sri Lanka to continue to legitimate its authority, the GOSL cannot have any link, formal or informal, in the THIS crucial period that the East is entering. (See my post on what the GOSL must do to get ‘public goods’ working in the East right now.) Previously, one might have argued that supporting Karuna was unavoidable as the GOSL had no choice faced with the most ruthless of killers since Pol Pot on one side, and the threat of a new front on the other. Now with the East more or less in GOSL control, if the state to claim sovereignty over the East, then it MUST directly provide security to its citizens immediately.

Karuna cannot be allowed to be a proxy, no matter what was promised to him during the crossover. Political needs of the hour trumps those considerations, as the country comes first. As such, the Karuna group cannot be allowed to exist as a paramilitary force outside the military structure of the state. I would advice the GOSL to consider recruiting into several regiments the core of Karuna's adult cadre, if they are willing to serve Sri Lanka and thereby serve their community. I would suggest the rank of Colonel for Kuruna in one of the infantry units. Of course, given the problem he faces from the LTTE, it would make sense to allow Col. Muralitharan to choose his own immediate staff, who will be his body guard. He should command a battalion (is that the right size of unit for a Colonel?) in operations to come.

Some have suggested that Karuna be handed the East. This is will be a serious mistake, unless there is a popular cry to have him there, and even then it the wrong choice. I cannot see how anyone with a .. hand will be trusted. Plus, the idea of provincial autonomy is a threat to national unity. [As I have stated else where on this forum, the solution is to re-introduce the Upper House of the National Assembly with two seats per district and with some power to veto the President in domestic affairs. This way the legitimate problems of poor people in Sri Lanka will be addressed in several ways. 1. With direct elections for a President, making the candidate contest for all votes. 2. With district level voting for Upper House seats (Senators?) having a further say in how the President governs for every Sri Lankan in different districts. 3. Votes for representatives at the MP level, where the people will have a say on day-to-day matters, particularly if elections for this level is every two years or so. There are many details to tailor this presidential system to Sri Lanka’s needs. The key is to embed more legislative power in the Upper House and Lower House, with this power reflecting domestic realities of poverty.]



Last edited by Political Observer on Wed Jan 24, 2007 11:20 pm; edited 1 time in total
_________________
Do not start a war, unless it is already won...

This is the rational perspective, much above the emotional view that Karuna is guilty of past crime.  This is win-win situation for everyone if Lanka can rise above emotions.

Quote:

PO:
“Karuna cannot be allowed to be a proxy, no matter what was promised to him during the crossover. Political of the hour trumps those considerations, as the country comes first. As such, the Karuna group cannot be allowed to exist as a paramilitary force outside the military structure of the state. I would advice the GOSL to consider recruiting into several regiments the core of Karuna's adult cadre, if they are willing to serve Sri Lanka and thereby serve their community. I would suggest the rank of colonel for Kuruna in one of the infantry units--logically, given the problem he faces from the LTTE, it would make sense to allow Col. Muralitharan to choose his own immediate staff, who will be his body guard. He should command a battalion (is that the right size of outfit for a Colonel?) in operations to come.”

I do agree Karuna shouldn’t be handed over the East.  What if he teams up with Prabha again?  Who should govern East should be done from a democratic process, just like what we do elsewhere in the Island.

Sri Lankan government must think East is very critical to the integrity and future commercial success of Sri Lanka.  The central government absolutely have its control.  The citizens of East must be able to recruit willingly for the effort to getting rid of LTTE.

The east is the buffer between North and South - culturally.


_________________
.... inspire me

hardX asks:

Quote:

I do agree Karuna shouldn’t be handed over the East.  What if he teams up with Prabha again?

Another way to ask this question is:

If and when Prabhakaran is removed from the leadership of the LTTE (weakend, defeated or otherwise), who is the obvious choice to take over the leadership?


_________________
"I do not suffer from Autism, but I do suffer from the way you treat me." -Tyler Durdin

kkk123 wrote:

hardX asks:

Quote:

I do agree Karuna shouldn’t be handed over the East.  What if he teams up with Prabha again?

Another way to ask this question is:

If and when Prabhakaran is removed from the leadership of the LTTE (weakend, defeated or otherwise), who is the obvious choice to take over the leadership?

You think it is Karuna?

Prabha is the last roadblock of the progress of Sri Lanka and the iconic mother of all troublemakers.  There is no second, third, forth, fifth, sixth  …..  and who knows it will come down to king MR  


_________________
.... inspire me

Dear hardX,

Whatever differences Karuna has with Prabha, it is likely that the original way of thinking (namely Tamil v. Sinhalese) that made Karuna a tiger still remains in tact. If so, unless there are government measures to remove what Karuna (and many others) perceive/d as discrimination towards Tamils, he can always revert back to being a separatist fighter. This is specially likely if Prabha is eliminated, and the LTTE turns non-militant.

At best, we can look at Karuna as a future leader of the Tamils, campaigning for a federal state within Sri Lanka. At worst, we can look at him as a future terrorist leader campaigning to establish a separate state in SL. In between these two extremes, there are many other possibilities.

Who Karuna will be in the absence of Prabhakaran (God willing!), will be determined mainly by the actions of the Sinhalese.

If we keep repeating the question "what are the problems the Tamils have in SL", sarcastically implying that the Tamils in SL never had real problems, we may manufacture another Prabhakaran out of Karuna.

On the other hand, if we address the problems of the Tamils with a genuine desire to ensure equality to all Sri Lankans, we can make a true democrat out of Karuna.



Last edited by kkk123 on Thu Jan 25, 2007 4:06 am; edited 1 time in total
_________________
"I do not suffer from Autism, but I do suffer from the way you treat me." -Tyler Durdin

Karuna will be Karuna.
He is with the SL forces for his own vendata not for the beter future of Sri lanka.
He will show his real face which he had for so many years very soon.
Remember he was the second to non other than the all mighty VP.
We know what VP did in the past and what he is doing now.


_________________
Who he saw will harvest it.

[quote="DR.No"][quote="Stephen Jones"][quote]Karuna has nothing to do with the SLA. He and  estern tamils are on their own.[/quote]Karuna's camps are right next to army camps or even within them. His cadres fight side by side with the SLA and STF. He has kidnap gangs in Colombo known to the police and Defense Forces. When children are kidnapped they are waived past army checkpoints, and on occasion kept in army camps until they can be transferred to his camps.[/quote]
They are only stories crecated by the LTTE: the whole world knows who take the children to fight against the SLA. [/quote]


Dude, where are you? If that was the case, HRW (US based group, remember) would not have come up with this. In other words, the "collusion" as they put it must be soooooooo bad that they are compelled to accuse a "democratically elected" sovereign nation like yours.