Human Rights: Jan Palach Week, 1989: The beginning of the end for Czechoslovak communism - documents from Secret Police, party, and dissidents

Source: National Security Archive

The brutal suppression by Czechoslovak Communist authorities of commemorative ceremonies for "Palach Week" 20 years ago this month marked the beginning of the end of the regime in the annus mirabilis 1989, according to secret police, Communist Party, and dissident documents posted on the Web by the Czechoslovak Documentation Centre (Prague) and the National Security Archive (www.nsarchive.org) at George Washington University (Washington, D.C.).

Various independent civic initiatives (also known in the official Communist press as "anti-state" and "anti-socialist forces") had planned to lay wreaths at the site in Prague's main Wenceslas Square where the student Jan Palach in January 1969 had burned himself to death in protest against the repression that followed the Soviet occupation of Czechoslovakia in August 1968. Also planned was a pilgrimage to the rural cemetery where Palach's ashes were interred.

But the Communist secret police cracked down with beatings, tear gas, and mass arrests, including the dissident playwright and future Czechoslovak president Václav Havel. The repression occurred at the exact moment in January 1989 that the signatory countries to the Helsinki Final Act (the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, or CSCE) were meeting in Vienna, and drew widespread protests from abroad, including from U.S. Secretary of State George Shultz, leading Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov, and perhaps most eloquently, American playwright Arthur Miller.

The Web posting includes never-before-published documents from Czechoslovak archives, including the secret police reports on the demonstrations in January 1989 and the internal Communist Party briefings and instructions (the Party line) to cadres about the events of January. Also included are key Charter 77 and other dissident and samizdat statements, and several international protests of the time.

The posting republishes the detailed chronology of events in January and February 1989, originally written by the Czechoslovak Documentation Centre for its quarterly publication Acta (Vol. 3, No. 9-12), compiled and edited by Jan Vladislav in collaboration with Vilém Prečan, titled "Czechoslovakia: Heat in January 1989" and ultimately printed in December 1989 just as the "velvet revolution" toppled the Communist regime and put former prisoner Havel in the presidential office in Prague Castle.

Leading the posting is Professor Vilém Prečan's essay "Palach's Legacy: An Appeal to Czechoslovaks in the 1989 Struggle for Freedom." The final section of the posting includes the digital image of an original letter from Palach himself in 1969, urging the occupation of Radio Prague and a call for a general strike. Only days later, he burned himself to death.

"These documents posted on the Web today are the Internet equivalent of the wreath that Václav Havel tried to place in Wenceslas Square in January 1989," remarked Thomas Blanton, director of the National Security Archive at George Washington University. "We don't face arrest like he did for this commemoration, but we do have the responsibility of never forgetting those sacrifices, both by Jan Palach, and by everyone who made the peaceful revolutions of 1989."

To review and download the documents click here

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Human Rights: Malay-Muslims dare to take Thai army torture to court

By Marwaan Macan-Markar

Republished permission Inter Press Service (IPS ) copyright Inter Press Service (IPS)
www.ipsnewsasia.net and www.ipsnews.net

A year after they were allegedly subjected to torture by the Thai army, two young men from the country’s troubled southern provinces have done what no other victim of similar abuse in the area has dared to do - go to court.

The torture charges filed against the army and the defence ministry, this month, by Issamae Tae and Armese Manark mark a new trend for local communities to expose human rights violations in the south, home to Buddhist Thailand’s largest minority, the Malay-Muslims.

Issamae and Armese were taken into military custody from their homes in the Yala province on Jan. 28 last year and detained until Feb. 4. During seven days of interrogation, the two university students were allegedly beaten and tortured on suspicion of links to an unfolding insurgency, now entering its sixth year in the three provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat.

The road to justice for the two men, both aged 23, will not be through the criminal courts, since local laws do not include torture as a criminal offence - though Thailand ratified the U.N. Convention against Torture in November 2007. The men have opted to approach the civil courts, through which they can claim compensation.

This legal challenge aims to set a precedent to fix responsibility on army personnel and authorities involved in acts of torture, notes the Cross Cultural Foundation (CCF), a local non-governmental organisation (NGO) monitoring rights violations.

Issamae told the Bangkok civil court on the first day’s hearings that he was taken from his home by paramilitary operatives belonging to the Rangers Task Force 11 and detained at the Ingkharayuthboriham army camp in Pattani province.

He said he was repeatedly beaten with a stick wrapped with cloth until he passed out. His captors would pour cold water on him to revive him, a Thai newspaper covering the court proceedings reports. They wanted him to confess to being part of an insurgency in the region.

These victims face added risks for filing the case. Lower-ranking army officers may find this offensive; there will be tension, Pornpen Khongkachonkieat, coordinator of CCF’s access to justice and legal protection project, told IPS. ‘’We hope the authorities in the south respect the right for a call to justice within the legal system.’’

Human rights activists expect that other victims of torture in the three provinces close to the Thai-Malaysian border may be inspired to follow this legal route as they gather confidence to speak out and report flagrant abuse at the hands of the Thai security troops - nearly 110,000 of whom are deployed in the troubled region.

In fact, the determination by the victims to speak out is helping human rights groups to expose the scale of torture in the south, where over 3,200 people have been killed since the conflict - pitting the Thai security forces against and Malay-Muslim insurgents - began in January 2004.

Most of those who died were Malay-Muslims, the majority in the three provinces.

''From mid-2007 to mid-2008 reports of torture in the south had reached a peak,'' Benjamin Zawacki, a Thai researcher for Amnesty International (AI), said in an interview.

Some of those finding were revealed in an AI report released in mid-January. Thai security forces have systematically relied on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment in their efforts to obtain information or extract confessions to compensate for poor intelligence and evidence gathering, revealed the report, ‘Thailand: Torture In The Southern Counter-insurgency’.

Several Muslim residents of southern Thailand told AI that they or other victims were detained by joint military-police forces, pursuant to the Thai military’s Battle Plan for the Protection of Southern Lands announced in June 2007, added the 41-page report.

The plan has been characterised by arrests of large numbers of suspects under the powers of preventive detention conferred on the security forces by the Martial Law Act and the 2005 Emergency Decree.

What happened to a farmer taken into custody in Narathiwat was typical of the torment endured by the 34 torture victims that AI focused in its report on - the youngest a boy of six. The soldiers stuck a sewing needle into the farmer’s fingertips, under his eyes and into his genitals.

Residents from the south and human rights activists told IPS in interviews that there may be as many as 20 detention sites across the region where a suspect could be held for weeks.

In some cases, the detainees were moved from one site to another for the authorities to get around the law and keep detainees in custody longer, one activist said on condition of anonymity.

''The lack of clarity in the Thai law has compounded the problem,'' says Vitit Muntarbhorn, a human rights expert at Bangkok’s Chulalongkorn University.

Courts cannot accept evidence obtained through torture, he notes but Thai law is slightly vague on confessions.

The current conflict in the south, which is still a low-level insurgency, is rooted in tensions that grew after Siam, as Thailand was then known, annexed the three southern provinces in 1902. Until then the three provinces were part of the Malay-Muslim kingdom of Pattani.

Malay-Muslims have, since the annexation, complained of cultural and linguistic discrimination and, later, economic marginalisation, giving rise to the first generation of rebels, who mounted a separatist campaign in the 1970s.

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Philippines: An increasing number of children on conflict-stricken Mindanao Island are suffering from stress after more than five months of fighting

Rohaimen Kedto says he is now afraid to go to school

An increasing number of children on conflict-stricken Mindanao Island are suffering from stress after more than five months of fighting between government forces and the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

The southern, mineral-rich island has witnessed an upsurge in fighting following the collapse of a peace accord in August.

"I'm afraid. I don't want to go to school," Rohaimen Kedto, 8, said from his desk at the Sambulawan Elementary School, about 60km north of Cotabato city in North Cotabato Province.

"He's particularly afraid if he sees a stranger," said Parida Campaniel, his first-grade teacher, who struggles to help him, despite the 110 other children in her classroom vying for her attention. "He must have seen something," she said.

Conflict continues

More than 163 people have been killed in the fighting and scores injured, the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC), the chief government coordinating body for disaster and rehabilitation operations, reported, with some 2,000 homes damaged or destroyed.

Whole communities have been obliterated, say aid workers.

Of the more than 300,000 people receiving assistance, about 75,000 are in evacuation centres, many of them schools, with the rest staying with relatives and friends, the NDCC reported.

"Pupils, particularly when they see members of the armed forces, become nervous. Even the sound of an airplane leaves many of them running for cover," said Meriam Kagui, a government volunteer at the school.

"We try to calm them, but it's not always possible," she said.

Impact of stress

According to specialists, psychological distress manifests itself among children in two ways - they may become more passive, withdrawn and less interested in their surroundings, or overly active and even aggressive to the point of being disruptive or rebellious.

Without a psycho-social assessment, however, it is difficult to determine the child's mental health, experts say.

"All the factors that can put stress on a child like a lack of basic services, detachment from a nurturing and caring environment, [the] disruption of routines like schooling, are present," Leon Dominador Fajardo, a child protection specialist with the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), told IRIN in Manila.

Unless the fighting stops and families are allowed to return to their homes and routines safely, such stress will continue.

But in the interim, there are measures that can be taken to limit stress factors, said Faiardo, including a safe and secure environment for the children, free of threats of violence and harassment; a semblance of normalcy in activities such as school; ensuring children and their families have access to basic and emergency services; and group activities that will help children reestablish structure in their lives.

"This would include play, sports, art and recreation activities and other structured group activities and encouraging community involvement," Fajardo said.

During times of emergencies all children will exhibit changes in behaviour, emotions, thoughts and action, including nightmares, bedwetting, withdrawal, and tantrums - all of which would disappear if the child were in a safe and secure environment, he said.

If not, more serious mental health disorders, including anxiety and depression, could occur, he warned.

UNICEF response

UNICEF has taken a number of steps in addressing the psycho-social wellbeing of children as part of its emergency response effort in Mindanao, including working with various groups to facilitate access by displaced families to safe and secure surroundings and basic services; to restore schooling or provide alternative learning opportunities and to establish child-friendly spaces where structured group activities and learning can take place.

The agency has also organised the Child Protection Network in Central Mindanao, a group of 10 local and international organisations involved in child protection activities, such as providing educational and play activities and creating spaces for children to feel safe and express themselves.

With its partners on the ground, UNICEF continues to provide child protection services, including the establishment of some 51 child-friendly spaces or alternative learning centres for about 6,000 children in conflict-affected communities in the provinces of North Cotabato, Lanao del Norte, Maguindanao and Shariff Kabunsuan.

Disclaimer:This material comes to you via IRIN, the humanitarian news and analysis service of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the United Nations or its Member States.

Photo: Copyright IRIN

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Human Resources: Recession-sparked social unrest hits protectionist Britain

With the recession biting and unemployment rates rising, Britain is the latest European country to experience social unrest. At issue in the U.K.; the practice of legally employing foreign European workers in certain sectors while some Britons remain unemployed.

The economic strains that first appeared in the U.S. subprime market last year are now being measured in terms of growing social unrest here in Europe as people confront an uncertain future under the backdrop of growing unemployment.

Over just the past week, angry demonstrators have hit the streets of Iceland, Russia and France.

That unrest has now reached the shores of Britain. At an oil refinery on the eastern coast near the town of Grimsby, British workers are calling for a change of policy.

At issue, the legal employment there of hundred of Italian and Portuguese contractors while many Britons cannot find any work.

Keeping abreast of developments at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown warns now is not the time for Europe to look inward. "There is an implicit protectionism I am afraid in what is happening at the moment and we have got to deal with this. What is happening now is that countries which have had foreign banks investing in them are seeing the withdrawal of capital. So, it is no accident that crises have been sparked in the eastern European countries in recent weeks because of the flight of capital and then the need to rely on the International Monetary Fund to protect them," he said.

But the noisy discontent may only be starting. At least a dozen demonstrations were staged Friday across the country at energy plants in sympathy with the original protest.

The national mediation service has moved in to talk with unions and employers here to try to calm the dispute before it gets out of hand.

Gordon Brown maintains that international cooperation is key in solving such issues. "We should not retreat from the idea that we can solve these problems and still believe in the idea of an open, free market, flexible, inclusive and sustainable globalization," he said.

But locals are demanding that Mr. Brown fulfills the promise he made two years ago when he championed the call for British jobs for British workers.

By Tom Rivers
Published with the permission of Voice of America

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Gaza: Torn apart - the human cost of Israel's war on Gaza

Few people have managed to escape Gaza during Israel's 22-day war on the territory.

Many of those who did were nationals of other countries married to Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip.


Despite the war being over, some family members are reluctant to return.

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Afghanistan: New security unit for dangerous areas

Afghanistan's interior minister says plans are underway to form a U.S.-funded community program that will provide security in areas threatened by Taliban fighters.

Mohammad Hanif Atmar says the paramilitary-style force will use the same weapons as Afghan police, and will be assigned to protect schools, highways and other government institutions. He refused to say where the unit will operate, citing security concerns.

Atmar also says the security force will be under the command of the Interior Ministry, noting it is not a regional militia. He says the U.S. military in Afghanistan is supportive of the program.

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Madagascar: I'm in charge, says opposition leader

The main opposition leader in Madagascar has made his boldest challenge yet to the nation's leadership, declaring to thousands of supporters that he is in charge of the country.

Speaking at an anti-government rally Saturday in the capital, Antananarivo, Andry Rajoelina said he was now giving orders and called on the central bank not to deliver funds to the government and for ministries to close as of Monday.

No reaction to the comments was available from the government.

This latest demonstration comes after a week of political protests throughout Madagascar that officials say left at least 68 people dead.

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Colombia: Hostage release - Brazilian helicopters head for Colombia

Two Brazilian military helicopters headed for Colombia Friday where they will participate in an operation for releasing hostages held by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

The two Cougar helicopters, each capable of transporting 26 people, left the military base in Manaus in northern Brazil.

According to Colombian Senator Piedad Cordoba, whose participation in the operation was demanded by FARC, the release process will take place at three different times.

Three policemen and one soldier will be released on Sunday, Alan Jara, former governor of the Meta province, will be released on Monday, while former congressman Sigifredo Lopez will be released on Wednesday.

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Gaza: Israel threatens yet another "disproportionate" response

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Sunday vowed a "disproportionate" response to rocket fire from Gaza, after a series of strikes from the Hamas-run enclave since ceasefires took effect last month, AFP reported.

"We've said that if there is rocket fire against the south of the country, there will be a disproportionate Israeli response to the fire on the citizens of Israel and its security forces," he said at the weekly cabinet meeting.

Olmert spoke after four rockets hit Israel on Sunday, without causing casualties or damage, two weeks after ceasefires brought an end to a massive 22-day war in the Palestinian territory.

Source: FOCUS Information Agency

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DRC: UN role restricted to planning joint DR Congo/Rwanda operation against rebels

The top United Nations official to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) stressed today that the world body is only involved in planning and coordinating the joint DRC/Rwanda military offensive targeting ethnic Rwandan Hutu militias.

The UN peacekeeping mission in DRC, known as MONUC, will set up a planning an liaison task force to support the operation aimed at defeating the Forces Démocratiques pour la Libération du Rwanda (FDLR), based in eastern DRC.

“We expect to be primarily associated with planning operations,” said the Secretary-General''s Special Representative in DRC, Alan Doss.

Following a request from the DRC Minister of Defence earlier in the week, Mr. Doss has put in place a MONUC team to work with the joint DRC/Rwanda operation in Goma, the capital of the eastern North Kivu province.

The goal for the group of six to eight staff military officers sent to assist with the operation is to boost the presence and gradual inclusion of UN civilian staff in planning the operation, as well as work on issues such as humanitarian coordination and the demobilization of former Congolese or ethnic Rwandan Hutu fighters.

MONUC also underscored that it will not participate in any transaction in which. Bosco Ntanganda, the leader of the mainly Tutsi National Congress in Defense of the People (CNDP) militia, will play a role at any level.

Source: UN News Centre

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Defense: Thousands take to the streets in Prague to protest U.S. radar base

A crowd of nearly 1,000 gathered at Jan Palach Square in the Czech capital of Prague to protest against the planned U.S. radar base in the country.

Protestors also marched through the capital, holding banners saying, "Stop the new arms race" and chanting slogans like "No radar base here."

They also presented a letter intended for President Barack Obama to the U.S. embassy.

Vojtech Filip, chairman of the Czech Communist Party, which organized the protest, said his party wants a referendum on stationing a radar base near Prague.

Other groups including the Mayors' League Against Radar also took part in the rally.

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Sri Lanka: Should political solutions suit those living abroad or in comfort - or the actual people who have been suffering over 25 years?

By: Shenali Waduge
Source: Ministry of Defence, Public Security, Law & Order - Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka

With the fall of Mullaittivu, the last of the LTTE held towns it is timely to look forward critically but positively. The LTTE of the 1980s is certainly not the LTTE of present day. The Tamil people who backed the LTTE in the 1980s do not do so now. LTTE cadres enthusiastically joined the movement in the 1980s - today conscription is by force & even resorting to kidnapping.

Those who enjoy filling the LTTE kitty are actually comfortably domiciled abroad & able to gradually bring their families over & so they have little care for the suffering of their own Tamil people cornered into LTTE "territory". There is significant scampering for political solutions before the collapse of the LTTE. It is to avoid the inevitable question that should ask whether political solutions should suit those living abroad or those comfortably living in urban Sri Lanka or the actual people who have been suffering over 25 years?

It is these innocent Tamils whose voices have not been heard despite the flotilla of forces that have disembarked on Sri Lanka on "humanitarian", "peace building", "conflict resolution", "development" initiatives. It is a tragedy that none of the TNA parliamentarians, the Tamil Diaspora or even the urban Tamils of Colombo have appealed to allow these people to lead normal lives. They have been denied normal living conditions; their children denied proper education, their right to live as children & for families to live a happy life. For years, those that cry for an "Eelam" have enjoyed using their own people as bait & it is their welfare that must take precedence first over any political solution. It is indeed a tragedy that even the NGOs/INGOs, the diplomatic corps & other political thinkers have evaded this all important point.

It was in the early 1980s & following the Vaddukkodai Resolution (in 1976) where Tamil politicians actually called upon the Tamil youth to arm & begin an armed struggle. Naturally, it was easy to attract cadres - the youth had their share of grievances & it is crucial that we do not forget the caste factor amongst Tamils - a dominating feature that attracted Tamil low-caste, Christian youths to join the LTTE. Tamils themselves were suffering as a result of Vellala Tamil domination which had far deeper social ramifications.

For propaganda purposes this element was shelved. For a leader who has had no education to boast of has evolved into an astute leader but once his empire went beyond the coastal waters of Sri Lanka & a "Team" of arms procurers, theoreticians, foreign spokesmen etc formed itself, we can but wonder whether it was this combination that eventually led to a few faux pas like the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi as well as a string of blunders - from denying a UNP Government to power to closing the Mavil Aru dam. The blunders eventually became the start of Prabakaran's downfall. 2009 has favored the armed forces, following the capture of Paranthan, it has taken over Pooneryn, Elephant Pass, Kilinochchi & now Mullaittivu subjecting the LTTE & possibly its leader to a small stretch of 20 x 15 sq.km area. Suddenly there are voices that have increased the civilian human shields from 200,000 to an unbelievable 400,000 - besides the practicality of keeping such a figure, we are compelled to ask how these figures came about when discounting the 800,000 Sri Lankan Tamils in foreign climes there are only 1.6million Sri Lankan Tamils in Sri Lanka (Note: Indian Tamils are not accounted for).

The defeat of the LTTE is something that has become undesirable unfortunately to some. Who are the guilty who enjoy bombs going off just to blame the Government's inefficiency to protect, who are the guilty who enjoy hearing the deaths of our soldiers to promote the need to continue a farcical Cease Fire Agreement, who are the guilty who wish for the cancer of LTTE rule to continue? To some the calls for thinking patriotic is to agree to all that the present Government aspires to.

Tragically, it should not be so. How many of us are able to objectively view the situation. A covert operation thrust upon Sri Lanka by a "friendly" neighbor, eventually created a problem that realistically speaking none of us accept. Have even the media that professes "impartiality" ever told the world that WE DO NOT SUFFER FROM AN ETHNIC PROBLEM BUT A TERRORIST PROBLEM?

We have had different Governments in power, all with very sound Defence budgets but were they able to deliver the results - did soldiers not die needlessly because the Governments lacked leadership to delegate powers to the military & equip them to protect Sri Lanka? A supposed savior in the form of the CFA was only a timely creation to save the LTTE following the Al Qaeda attack upon the US & the "war on terror" - did this document not carve out territory to the LTTE, allow them to procure arms openly & even kill men of Sri Lanka's intelligence as well as Government politicos, did not the ceasefire have over 3000 LTTE violations & were not our soldiers mercilessly gunned down? Thinking patriotic is actually accepting the LTTE for what they are - a brutal killer force & feeling happy that all rebel territory is now under sovereign Sri Lanka. Nevertheless it has been an enviable task for most Green politicians & their support base to accept that the two years that this Government has been in power - its program to eliminate the LTTE has been successful. The political tassels however force speeches to project that the Governments success lies in their war propaganda though Rajapaksa actually became President during a functioning CFA.

We then have a group of elite Colombo-based "peaceniks" all attempting to promote a quick-fix ahead of the LTTE's fall - their "political solution" naturally echoes what those who fill their pockets desire....they are local spokesman for "political solutions" that will benefit their stake in Sri Lanka. These foreign stakeholders are not likely to be misled by Colombo's "elite peaceniks" yet one wonders why the diplomatic corps at times have overstepped their mandate & combined even to pressurize a Government with the bait of denying them GSP plus thus denying work to over thousands of garment sector employees. In a climate of peace - Sri Lanka's geopolitical importance is likely to thrive...the economic prospects are also looking promising. Thus it is important that we critically analyze the context of these pushes for "political solutions" that realistically does not address the needs of those who deserve the "solutions".

Sri Lanka's urban population makes up just 23.5% of the total population. Unfortunately, it is this percentage that not only enjoys projecting their thoughts but it is they who benefit & the majority are left to make do with what comes their way. Many are likely to mistake the "majority" as connoting "Sinhalese" - by majority it is implied that the public who make up the actual vote base are the Sinhalese, Tamils & Muslims who live in rural Sri Lanka. This majority needs to have improved healthcare, better roads, better facilities, even portable water & electricity, better teachers, better schools etc. These are more important to them than political solutions.

So, when it comes to "solutions" - are we to address the needs & aspirations of the urban or realistically cater to the rural, for to uplift Third World Sri Lanka we need to develop the rural base. It is in this context that we question how far a "separate state", 'a federal solution" & all that is being tabled are likely to solve the ACTUAL NEEDS of the masses?

Given that we live in a Third World Nation, how will even an "Eelam" provide a difference? It is in this context that we question the viability of democratic governance & how far it succeeds in reaping its fruit to the masses - political solutions enviably end up helping the careers of political leaders & the other private parties that combine to work as checks & balances.

What is actually itching the present Opposition alliance is perhaps that combining the military effort is a well-thought out program to develop infrastructure - especially roads & bridges obviously in the eventuality that the Government's future lies in its ability to deliver things that matter. Colombo's elite are perhaps ignorant of the in-roads that the Government has made to deduce that the rural support for the present Government may not be on the Government's military successes alone but the gratitude for the roads that have been built & facilities that have been provided, including programs to absorb injured military personnel into civil society.

Against, this backdrop unfortunately India remains a pervading force. Having not satisfied with itself for creating the mess, India desires to remain the force behind all the decision Sri Lanka's sovereign Government takes. A pressing issue becomes the Tamil Nadu state with its 62million Tamil populace thinking they have every right to speak on behalf of the Tamils in Sri Lanka. Making this scenario far worse is when Sri Lankan Tamil politicos & a few Tamil people make appeals for India's intervention having forgotten the aftereffects of the intervention in 1987 when many Tamil women ended up raped.

If Americans can be proud to be American & think American & likewise all other nations, it is desired that all Sri Lankans should think Sri Lankan & be proud of being Sri Lankan.

Having a foot in Sri Lanka & another in India is hardly likely to result in a successful recipe thus the practical suggestion to ask those Sri Lankan Tamils who feel that only India can address their concerns to be granted citizenship in Tamil Nadu. That would solve a bulk of the problem.

The example of Brittany comes to mind. The people of Brittany (Bretons) are legal residents of France (but are a distinct Celtic ethnic group). They do not speak French but English & follow their own ethnic cultures - yet never has there been an instance that they have made any appeals to Britain. They remain very much a part of France.

In a population of 20million people, many are likely to think that the 74% Sinhalese population have an overbearing control, favored by all Governments & not suffering a single grievance. It is not so, prison statistics will reveal the number of Sinhala prisoners. In another example take from the education system to depict that there are times when even the Sinhalese function as a minority. Private schools in Sri Lanka are all primarily dominated by Christian or Catholics. During admissions it is openly declared that no admission forms will be given to Buddhists. The Buddhists who secure admissions in semi-private schools on the 1% category will soon learn that they must follow all the Catholic/Christian customs applied in the school. Thus, everyone has their own share of grievances in any part of the world. Similarly, all Governments are not without scales of corruption - even the UK has their share of scandals over the years, the US is experiencing one presently in Illinois. Similarly, everyone will have their own opinions - the standardization during Mrs. Bandaranaike's time created a lot of tension - primarily what it did that most forget is to provide education facilities that thus far been denied to Vavuniya, Mannar, Batticaloa - areas that previously only Jaffna Tamils enjoyed.

Looking ahead - we need to break many barriers & mindsets. It has been unfortunate that the two main political parties of Sri Lanka think they must remain eternal adversaries. This naturally has trickled down to their support base who end up thinking green or blue & not taking issues independently to voice opinion on what should suit Sri Lanka above what will politically favor the party's position. In the present scenario of the program to eliminate the LTTE, the Opposition must now be wondering why it did not side with the Government on their resolve to eliminate the LTTE. Sadly, it is these politicized thinkers & their thinking that actually divides the people, aggravates situations & leads to conspiracies that presently dominate.

Sri Lanka is likely to enter a very crucial juncture in our history. The economic plan for Sri Lanka was usurped by India who introduced a terrorist problem to Sri Lanka - yet despite the odds, the country has managed to keep afloat & has done remarkably well considering how other countries function under similar conditions. Many tourists who brave the "advisories" & come leave happy & with the correct picture that Sri Lanka does not suffer an ethnic problem but a terrorist one. It has been the Tamil Diaspora & others who have made good as a result of the conflict who wish to continue the propaganda based on "ethnic", "genocide" "human rights" etc.

We have rarely heard of offsprings continuing terrorist activity & a shrinking LTTE "territory" leaves little hope for the LTTE leader - flee to a foreign land or without cowardice face Sri Lanka's armed forces. Many believe Prabakaran is unlikely to flee but the eventuality that he & his leaders have gone or been saved as was predicted we need to assess the future scenario. From the recent exhibitions & public rallies relayed from Jaffna - we can be confident that the Tamil population has now had enough of Prabakaran & his jungle promises. The flare to escape into the jungles & apply hit & run tactics has now become redundant - the youth now see better futures behind computer screens, education, talent etc...why should they deny themselves the means to nurture their talents & skills just to satisfy an armed struggle that will never benefit them. Did any of these LTTE cadres get the opportunity to study medicine in Ireland, learn aeronautical science or engineering & were they even given a simple birthday celebration? An absent Prabakaran is unlikely to even through intimidation continue his armed struggle & though late the Tamils in these areas that Prabakaran has denied their human rights is urged to say "enough is enough" & signs depict that Prabakaran is likely to fear his people more than the armed forces.

We should agree that political solutions especially of the type that are being promoted need to take 2nd place to providing for the actual needs that need to be addressed. The people of the areas that the LTTE dominated have been denied normal living standards - these people need to feel secure. Their areas have been denied years of development - the LTTE who have been funded by the Tamil Diaspora never for an instance put up portable drinking water, provided electricity to homes without, made roads or bridges - instead they procured arms & deposited monies to their foreign accounts. It is now left for the Government to take on the task of rebuilding & redeveloping these areas & countries that genuinely feel for these people should come forward & pledge their funds for these development drives. The Government may like to hold elections as they did in the East, but it is advisable first for a military team to secure the areas first, allow the people to build trust in the armed forces as an escaped Prabakaran will still leave a volatile space & thus the armed forces require to be stationed throughout the coastal belt to guard against infiltration. Especially since "flying" visits by Indians will become a regular feature until we know the state of Prabakaran & his "leaders".

Thinking positively, we can all move ahead. Those handful of voices who have enjoyed promoting division, hate, terror for their own personal glory need to be replaced with the voices of the majority masses who now believe that we can once again live in harmony now that the LTTE terror has neared its end. Those "nobody's domiciled abroad who enjoy promoting "separatist" or "federal" solutions have had no care for those who actually suffer at the hands of the LTTE. Their only desire being to become a "somebody" in Sri Lanka by aligning with other malicious forces who are out to steer Sri Lanka along their line of thinking only. Solutions that benefit only these handful should be replaced with administrative changes that do not require tinkering of the country's constitution but a diligent public service who need to understand the importance of their role - for it is their inefficiencies & ineffectiveness that make many think that it is part of Government policy. So we urgently need a public service who combine all the ethnic groups to be more alert, more client centric & more helpful in their dealings.

In a developing nation such as ours, now recovering from a 25 year terrorist problem the path ahead is unlikely to be rosy but we need to all put in our efforts to steer Sri Lanka towards prosperity - for the fruits will eventually trickle down to all of us.

Let us all think positively,

Published by Mike Hitchen, Mike Hitchen Consulting
Putting principles before profits