Film screening of ‘No Fire Zone: Killing Fields of Sri Lanka’ and panel discussion on June 10th at 6pm at the Irish School of Ecumenics in Trinity College Dublin.
The panel will include Callum Macrae, Director of the film; Bashana Abeywardena, an exiled Sri Lankan journalist and convenor of Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka (JDS); and Phil Miller, journalist and author of ‘Britain’s Dirty War Against Tamil People’.
The Verdict of the Tribunal’s sessions in Bremen on Genocide and international complicity has been released. The document and more material can be found on ptsrilanka.org. The Irish Forum is one of the organising groups of the Peoples’ Tribunal on Sri Lanka.
The Local and the Global: The Geopolitics of Peace and Conflict in Colombia, Kurdistan, Sri Lanka and Northern Ireland
24-25 May, 2012, Trinity College, Dublin
Aim of conference: Minister of State Joe Costello and Paul Murphy MEP will address a major international conference on promoting negotiated settlements to armed conflicts throughout the world as opposed to military solutions. The conference will also be addressed by a facilitator of the Colombian peace process, a member of the Kurdistan National Congress and a Sri Lankan journalist. The devastating effect of the military approach to conflict resolution has been shown dramatically by the unimaginable human consequences of the Sri Lankan military offensive against the Tamil population that ended the civil war in Sri Lanka in early 2009. However, this decade also saw a relatively successful peace process continuing in Northern Ireland, which though far from perfect, proved the potential for dialogue and negotiated settlement in the most adverse circumstances.In the case of Northern Ireland all parties were treated with ‘parity of esteem’ whereas in the other cases this principle was abandoned. Governments and state security forces were supported by the major powers to adopt a military solution as opposed to negotiated settlements. In these cases we see how states have become highly militarised, threatening all forms of democratic dissent. Many communities have suffered and what is assured by the military option is a ‘victor’s peace’.The conference aims to analyse the geopolitics of these four conflicts and how military means have increased human suffering and polarisation among communities and have threatened democracy, thereby exacerbating these conflicts. The Northern Ireland experience of ‘parity of esteem’ and dialogue could be taken as a guide to inform a global perspective for negotiated settlements to these conflicts. The conference will provide a valuable space for the experts to exchange views and experiences, in order for the participants from different countries to gain a broader perspective and learn from one another.
‘At least 146,679 Tamils are unaccounted for following the last phase of the war in Sri Lanka. Wikileaks have revealed that the Co-Chairs of 2002 peace process (USA, EU, Japan and Norway) were aware of the massacre of civilians by the Sri Lankan forces, but did not want to stop the Sri Lankan government. This has happened in Guatemala, Rwanda and other places too. Geopolitics is a common factor that affects all these conflicts. A global perspective is necessary for a just and peaceful resolution of these conflicts’, Jude Lal Fernando (Irish School of Ecumenics, Trinity College Dublin and Irish Forum for Peace in Sri Lanka).‘Under heavy rain and amidst military and police intimidation recently at least over hundred thousand people joined La Marcha Patriótica in Bogota demanding social justice and a negotiated settlement. As organisers of this conference we intend to raise global awareness about people’s power in these conflicts and promote non-militaristic approaches to conflict resolution’, Jose Antonio Gutierrez, Latin American Solidarity Centre in Dublin and Grupo Raíces (Grúpa Fréamhacha) Colombia Solidarity in Ireland.
Agenda 1. Public Meeting (All are welcome) Thursday 24 May, 7.00-9.45, Edmund Burke Theatre, Arts Building, Trinity College Dublin
7.00-7.15 pm Opening Address Joe Costello TD (Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade)
7.15-7.30 pm Keynote Address: Global Powers and Local Conflicts—Lessons from Ireland Paul Murphy (Member of European Parliament-Ireland)
7.30 – 8.10 pm On Colombia Nelson Raúl Fajardo Marulanda (Lecturer/National University of Colombia). He is the editor of Contribuciones para la Crítica y la Transformación and a facilitator of the Colombian peace process.
8.10 – 8.50 pm On Kurdistan Alan Shamosson, (Foreign Affairs Representative of Democratic Union Party). He is a member of Kurdistan National Congress (KNK).
8.50 – 9.10 pm On Sri Lanka Rohitha Bashana Abyewardena (Convenor/Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka). He is the former editor of Hiru, the Sinhala newspaper and an expert in the geopolitics of peace and conflict.
9.10- 9.30 pm Respondent: On Palestinian Resistance and the Role of Ireland David Landy (Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign; Lecturer Department of Sociology, TCD) He is a former chair of the IPSC and author of Jewish Identity and Palestinian Rights: Diaspora Jewish Opposition to Israel
9.30-9.45 pm Q & A Session
2. Seminar (Only by Invitation) 25 May, 9.30 am – 5.30 pm: No. 27, Pearse Centre, Pearse Street, Dublin 2
9.30-10.00 am Opening Address: The Role of the EU in Conflict Resolution—Lessons from Ireland Emer Costello (Member of European Parliament-Ireland)
10.00-11.30 am Geopolitical dynamics of peace and conflict in Colombia, Northern Ireland and Sri Lanka Panellists: 1.Carlos Arturo Garcia Marulanda (A member of Marcha Patriótica, the largest peace organisation in Colombia which gathered over 10,0000 people in Bogota demanding social justice and a negotiated settlement). 2. Jeyachandran Kopinath (Founder Editor/Tamilnet). He has been the chief editor of Tamilnet and was in direct contact with the Tamil journalists in the war zone especially after the assassination of senior editor Dharmeratnam Sivaram in April 2005 in Colombo. 3. Paul Murphy (Member of European Parliament-Ireland)
11.30-12.00 pm Tea Break
12.00-1.30 pm The situation of human rights and the role of the UN and the EU in Colombia, Kurdistan and Sri Lanka Panellists: 1. Mirham Yigit (Head of Kurdish Institute in Germany) 2. Andy Higginbottom (Principal Lecturer in Politics/Human Rights, Kingston University London) 3. Rohitha Bashana Abyewardena (Convenor/Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka). He is the former editor of Hiru, the Sinhala Newspaper and an expert in Geopolitics of Peace and Conflict)
1.30-2.30 pm Lunch Break
2.30-3.30 pm Parallel Group Discussions
1. Lessons from Northern Ireland and Palestine (led by Iain Atack, Paul Murphy and David Landy) 2. Mainstream media coverage of Colombia, Kurdistan and Sri Lanka: Exploring alternatives (led by Nelson Raúl Fajardo Marulanda, Mirham Yigit and Rohitha Bashana Abeywardena) 3. Demilitarisation and Enhancement of Democratic Space: Colombia, Kurdistan and Sri Lanka (led by Carlos Arturo Garcia Marulanda, Jude Lal Fernando and Andy Higginbottom) 4. Human Rights and Freedom of Expression: Colombia, Kurdistan and Sri Lanka (led by Alan Shamosson, Jose Antonio Gutierrez, Jeyachandran Kopinath)
3.30 – 4.00 pm Tea Break
4.00-4.45 pm Submission of Group Reports and Discussion on Concrete Measures
4.45-5.30 pm Concluding Session
Organised by: Irish School of Ecumenics, Trinity College, Dublin Irish Forum for Peace in Sri Lanka Grupo Raíces (Grúpa Fréamhacha) Colombia Solidarity in Ireland Kurdish Association of Ireland Latin American Solidarity Centre in Ireland
Funded By: Main funders: Robert and Kezia Stanley Chapman Trust (a Quaker-based trust) Co-funders: Trocaire and Onyva
On behalf of the organising committee
Jose Antonio Gutierrez Colombia Solidarity Group in Ireland and Latin American Centre in Dublin
Abraham Kardonya Kurdish Association of Ireland
Jude Lal Fernando Irish Forum for Peace in Sri Lanka
Dublin Verdict on Sri Lanka: What is to be done? Main Speaker: Denis Halliday (former UN Assistant Secretary-General) Wednesday, October 6, 2010 – Dublin University
War Crimes in Sri Lanka: International Implications Denis Halliday (former UN Assistant Secretary-General) Mary Lawlor (Director – FRONTLINE) Thursday, October 07, 2010 – Trinity College, Dublin
DUE PROCESS, an performance collaboration between Sandra Johnston and Dominic Thorpe based on the recent Permanent People’s Tribunal investigation on War Crimes in Sri Lanka, will take place on 27th of February, 5-8 pm, in Temple Bar Gallery in Dublin.
The findings of the People’s Tribunal on Sri Lanka have been released. The Irish Forum for Peace in Sri Lanka (IFPSL) wishes to state, that the copyright for printing and publishing of all languages of the findings document of the People’s Tribunal on Sri Lanka (PTSL) rests solely with the Permenent People’s Tribunal (PPT) and the IFPSL.
In Dublin today, 16th January, at 2.00pm the Peoples’ Tribunal Chairman Francois Houtart read the preliminary findings of the Peoples’ Tribunal on the war in Sri Lanka and its aftermath. There were four findings:
1: That the Sri Lankan Government and its military are guilty of War Crimes;
2: That the Sri Lankan Government is military are guilty of crimes against humanity;
3: That the charge of genocide requires further investigation;
4: That the international community, particularly the UK and USA, share responsibility for the breakdown of the peace process.Harrowing evidence, including video footage, was submitted by eye-witnesses of the use of heavy artillery and phosphorous munitions, and of the continuous violation of human rights by military activity to a panel of ten international jurors over two days.
The Irish Forum for Peace in Sri Lanka welcomed the preliminary findings of the Tribunal. Responding to the findings, the Forum issued the following five demands:
1: We call on the Sri Lankan government to allow the United Nations to conduct an inquiry into war crimes and crimes against humanity perpetrated during the final stages of the war between the Sri Lankan armed forces and the LTTE, and during the war’s aftermath;
2: We call on the Sri Lankan Government to release all those being detained in concentration camps and the estimated 11,000 people being held secretly at unknown locations;
3: We call on the Sri Lankan government to end the use of extra-judicial killings, sexual violence, and the deprivation of food and water as weapons against the civilian population;
4: We call on the Sri Lankan government to end the suppression of political dissent by violent or other means;
5: We call on the Sri Lankan government to fully implement human rights for all citizens of Sri Lanka, and the political solution involving the full participation of the Tamil population, ending the systematic historical discriminatory measures of the Sri Lankan state against the Tamil people.
The Irish Forum for Peace in Sri Lanka asserts that long term peace and stability can only be established on the basis of full justice and rights for all the inhabitants of the island.
The Permanent People’s Tribunal (successor to the Bertrand Russell Tribunal) will be conducting a People’s Tribunal on the war in Sri Lanka and its aftermath in Dublin in January 2010. The People’s Tribunal will investigate the alligations that the government and its forces committed war crimes and crimes against humanity during its final phase of the war with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. The Tribunal will also examine the local and international factors that led to the collapse of the 2002 Ceasefire Agreement.
