Sri Lankan official says army shelled hospital

[oberliner]

Source: AP

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — A hospital in Sri Lanka's chaotic war zone was hit twice by artillery attacks within hours Sunday, killing at least six civilians and wounding many others, the region's top health official and the Red Cross said.

Dr. Thurairajah Varatharajah said the shells in the later attack appeared to have been fired by the Sri Lankan army and killed five. He said they also caused extensive damage to the crowded Puthukkudiyiruppu hospital, one of the last functioning health institutions inside rebel-held territory. With beds full, many patients sleep in the corridor.

The Red Cross said the earlier artillery attack killed two people. It did not say which side fired those shells. Varatharajah said only one person was killed.

Military spokesman Brig. Udaya Nanayakkara did not answer calls seeking comment. The military has repeatedly denied killing civilians in their offensive to wipe out the Tamil Tiger rebels and end the island nation's 25-year-old civil war with the ethnic separatist group.

Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gVoaDFmbCYS-Usz9ACDRIengj21QD962VS200

[oberliner]

1. Sri Lanka - The situation is systematic genocide, ethnic cleansing says M.I.A

Sri Lankan sensation M.I.A. has been nominated for both a Grammy and an Oscar this year, but she would rather talk about being labeled a terrorist in her own country. She sat down with The Daily Beast’s Toure to talk about her hit single, “Paper Planes,” why Kanye West might induce her into labor at the Grammy Awards, and how she “isn’t trying to be like Bono.”

M.I.A. needs you to know that right now in Sri Lanka there’s a genocide going on, and 350,000 people’s lives hang in the balance. These days, not much else matters to her. The musician has been nominated for a Grammy for her explosive single "Paper Planes," and an Oscar for the Slumdog Millionaire soundtrack, but she has bigger concerns than statues and sales.

http://www.tamilsydney.com/content/view/1791/37/

[Igel]

4. Perhaps.

I'm not sure I'd consider M.I.A. to be reliable, just because she's either "Sri Lankan" or a "sensation."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/15/AR2005091500697.html

While she's probably not greatly fond of her father--naming her album after him might be evidence to the contrary--it's her ethnicity, she suffered from what the Singhalese government did. Moreover "genocide" is a term that's easy to hurl around, esp. when you've not been involved in it directly. Depending upon how strictly you define it, it's either a very rare crime, or one that's actually so common as to be background noise.

[oberliner]

5. US lawyer (Bruce Fein) wants Lankan leaders tried for genocide

CHENNAI: Sri Lankan defence secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa could go down in history as the first United States citizen to be tried for genocide, if Bruce Fein, a former US deputy associate attorney general has his way.

Fein, who is also a counsel for the Tamils Against Genocide group, told a gathering in the city on Friday that he would move the US justice and state departments next week invoking Section 1091 of the Federal Criminal Code of Genocide statute against Gotabhaya, who is a US citizen and Sarath Fonseka, Sri Lankan chief of armed forces, a US green card holder.

Fein said he has prepared a 1,000-page model indictment againsts Gotabhaya and Fonseka for genocide and it is scheduled for publication in the justice and state departments. Unlike other countries where genocide is an aberration, Sri Lanka has a "culture of genocide," expounded through the myths of Mahavamsa, teachings of Dhammapala and their continuing legacy, Fein said at a public lecture on Sri Lankan ethnic issue organised by the Max Foundation.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Chennai/US_lawyer_wants_Lankan_leaders_tried_for_genocide/articleshow/4023923.cms

[bemildred]

2. Yeah, I know, nobody cares about this conflict.

The similarities with Gaza and the OPT get more similar all the time, but nobody cares.

[oberliner]

3. 50,000 in London Tamil protest demanding ceasefire

LONDON (AFP) — More than 50,000 demonstrators marched through London in a Tamil rally on Saturday demanding an end to the fighting in Sri Lanka.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5g7pP261iaFPtw0G6lTDrt23jYf9Q

Some people do care!

[bemildred]

6. Well, theres a lot in India too, several kinds of Tamils, IIRC.

But I was more talking about DU, where posts about this conflict commonly sink like stones. I do find it interesting that in Sri Lanka the muslims are generally hunkered down and trying to stay out of the way. The argument is largely between Buddhists and Atheists.

[muriel_volestrangler]

7. Death toll up to at least 9 now

http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE5111ZK20090202