Rights activist furious over deportation

  Marty Silk | AAP | December 19, 2012 12:43PM | Adelaide Now

AN elderly doctor and human rights activist will complain to the Australian government, saying he was detained and deported from Singapore for political reasons.

Brian Senewiratne, 81, a long-time critic of the Sri Lankan government over its treatment of Tamils, is also threatening legal action against Singapore's immigration authorities.

"It's not surprising, but the audacity is staggering," Dr Senewiratne told AAP on Wednesday, following his detention and deportation late last week.

The practising doctor said he was stopped by authorities in Singapore while en route to speak at "invitation-only meetings" in Malaysia about the plight of Tamil refugees from Sri Lanka.

He'd then planned to head to Indonesia to do volunteer work.

But he said he was prevented from travelling on and locked in a holding room at Singapore airport for five hours without food, water or a toilet.

He was eventually put on a return flight to Brisbane.

"I wasn't allowed to use my phone or laptop," Dr Senewiratne said.

"They gave me no food or water. They wouldn't even let me go to the toilet.

"I've got heart problems. At one point by heart rate was 124 beats a minute. It's normally 60."

Dr Senewiratne said an official told him he would not be allowed to continue his journey.

"The official said: 'From Brisbane you came, to Brisbane you are going, under armed guard'."

Dr Senewiratne was put on a flight back and handed a deportation order which he said stated he was ineligible for entry into Singapore "under current immigration policies".

But he said he was not told what policies he was accused of breaching, and he'd had no response to complaints lodged with Singaporean authorities.

He said he was writing to Foreign Minister Bob Carr, and his local federal MP, former foreign minister Kevin Rudd, asking them to take up the case.

"The foreign minister is currently sitting with the man who probably organised it all, (Sri Lanka) President Mahendra Rajapaksa," said Dr Senewiratne, who still practises in Brisbane.

"I've had over 1000 emails, faxes, telephone calls and even visits just to see that I was alive because at 81 you could bloody well be dead after that treatment."

Dr Senewiratne believes the Malaysian government may have told the Sri Lankan government about his trip and it asked Malaysia to stop him going ahead.

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/breaking-news/rights-activist-furious-over-deportation/story-e6frea7l-1226540358470

Intelligence swap with Colombo raises rights fears

• by: Paul Maley
• From: The Australian
• December 18, 2012 12:00AM

AUSTRALIA will share intelligence about people-smuggling with Sri Lanka in a significant - and controversial - expansion of the security relationship with Colombo.

Foreign Minister Bob Carr announced yesterday a "four-point plan" with Sri Lanka, aimed at cracking down on the booming people-smuggling trade now operating across the Indian Ocean.

Under the plan, Australia will boost the capacity of the Sri Lankan navy to disrupt smuggling ventures by training officials in maritime and air surveillance and identifying gaps in Colombo's capacity to stop boats.

A $700,000 information campaign will air across TV, radio and cinema advertising to deter would-be migrants, and Australia will spend $45 million in aid over five years to develop poorer areas.

But it is the expanded intelligence sharing arrangements that will prove to be the most controversial.

Australia will provide more surveillance and electronic equipment to the Sri Lankans in what Senator Carr described as a "clear agenda for intelligence sharing, naval co-operation and helping rebuild Sri Lanka".

Government sources said last night the focus would be on providing more information to the Sri Lankan government about people-smugglers - rather than their clients - and to boost the ability of local authorities to disrupt ventures.

Much of the information Australian security agencies gather about Sri Lankan people-smuggling syndicates derives from Sri Lankan boatpeople debriefed on Christmas Island.

It was not clear how much of that information would now be shared with Colombo.

Australia has traditionally been reluctant to share too much amid concerns over the Sri Lankan government's human rights record.

 http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/intelligence-swap-with-colombo-raises-rights-fears/story-fn59niix-1226538662373

‘India continues to remain engaged with Colombo’: Antony

Posted by News Desk on December 17, 2012 | Truthdive

New Delhi, Dec 17 (ANI): Defence Minister AK Antony has said that New Delhi attaches the highest importance to the safety, security and welfare of Indian fishermen and has consistently through diplomatic channels taken up issues relating to incidents of attack on the former with Colombo.

“Government of India attaches the highest importance to the safety, security and welfare of Indian fishermen and has consistently taken up issues relating to incidents of attack on Indian fishermen with the Government of Sri Lanka, through diplomatic channels,” said Antony in a written reply to ShriSivasmi Cin in Lok Sabha today.

“After implementing mutually agreed arrangements, the incidents of attack and apprehension of bonafide Indian fishermen by Sri Lankan authorities, have significantly come down. It has also been agreed to enhance cooperation to allow both countries to pursue their fishing activity in a safe, secure and sustainable manner,” he added.

Antony further said India continues to remain engaged with Colombo to ensure that fishermen on both sides can pursue their livelihood in a safe, secure and sustainable manner. (ANI)

http://truthdive.com/2012/12/17/India-continues-to-remain-engaged-with-Colombo-Antony.html

Army Chief to arrive in Sri Lanka tomorrow

December 18, 2012 | The Hindu

R. K. Radhakrishnan

Indian Army Chief Bikram Singh and a delegation of senior Army officials, who arrive here on Wednesday, will pay tributes to Indian Peace Keeping Force personnel, including P. Ramaswamy M. Vr. C (Maha Vir Chakra), who did not fight for India, but nevertheless figure in the list of people who sacrificed their lives.

It was Ramaswamy’s son, Maj. Parameshwaran, who laid down his life as part of the IPKF. For his heroism, the Major was presented the Param Vir Chakra, India’s highest military honour.

Though The Hindu pointed out this discrepancy on August 16 this year, and though officials at the Indian High Commission claimed that they were aware of this issue much before the newspaper pointed it out, nothing has so far been done to correct the mistake. A visit to the memorial on Monday night revealed no activity, though one official claimed that the mistake was being rectified.

Itinerary

The visiting Indian Army Chief is scheduled to meet President Mahinda Rajapaksa, the Defence Secretary, the Chief of Defence Staff and the three forces’ Commanders.

His Sri Lanka visit will also take him to the Security Force Headquarters in Vavuniya and the Ex-combatants’ Rehabilitation Centre.

He and his wife will also spend time taking in the heritage of Anuradhapura, and will also travel to the cooler climes of Kandy and Nuwara Eliya.

He will be the Chief Guest at the Passing-out Parade at the Sri Lankan Military Academy, Diyatalawa, on December 22.

“Tamil women forced to marry Sri Lankan army personnel”

CHENNAI, December 18, 2012 | The Hindu

Special Correspondent

Alleging that Tamil women in Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu districts in northern Sri Lanka were being forced to marry Sri Lankan Army personnel, DMK leader M. Karunanidhi on Monday asked the Union government to ascertain the facts and take it up with the neighbouring country.

In a statement, Mr. Karunanidhi said students of Jaffna University were arrested and tortured in prison by the Army for observing “heroes’ day” recently.

“The mere mention of the name Yazh (short for Yazhppanam or Jaffna) provokes the Sinhalese. Tamil scholars were attacked in the Jaffna World Tamil Conference and the Jaffna University library was burnt down,” he said and wanted India’s intervention to stop the incidents.

MGR memorial

Responding to the State government’s explanation to the High Court that the structure erected in front of MGR memorial was not the “Two Leaves” symbol of the AIADMK, Mr. Karunanidhi wondered if it was not the party’s symbol why the government unveiled it in a hurry, even without printing an invitation.

“Of course they did not say it was the symbol of the DMK,” he quipped.

Mr. Karunanidhi said that though one year had passed since the fire broke out in a building in the Ezhilagam complex, nothing had moved despite the fact the tenders were called for seven months ago for reconstruction.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/tamil-nadu/tamil-women-forced-to-marry-sri-lankan-army-personnel/article4210491.ece