{"id":115463,"date":"2021-06-24T03:22:13","date_gmt":"2021-06-24T10:22:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=115463"},"modified":"2021-06-24T03:22:13","modified_gmt":"2021-06-24T10:22:13","slug":"why-is-eu-funded-foundation-for-human-rights-south-africa-administering-yasmin-sookas-itjp-against-sri-lanka","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2021\/06\/24\/why-is-eu-funded-foundation-for-human-rights-south-africa-administering-yasmin-sookas-itjp-against-sri-lanka\/","title":{"rendered":"Why is EU Funded Foundation for Human Rights South Africa administering Yasmin Sooka\u2019s ITJP against Sri Lanka?"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><em><strong data-rich-text-format-boundary=\"true\">Shenali D Waduge<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.shenaliwaduge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Screen-Shot-2021-06-23-at-11.07.29-AM.png\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>We seek clarification from\nthe EU, South Africa &amp; the Government of Sri Lanka. In 1996, the European\nUnion created the Foundation for Human Rights in South Africa and appointed\nYasmin Sooka as its Executive Director in 2001 paid by the EU. The Foundation\nfor Human Rights is funded by EU and its scope is South Africa.&nbsp;<strong>The golden question that remains unanswered is how a EU funded\nSouth African human rights project can administer another project\n(International Truth &amp; Justice Project-Sri Lanka since 2014) that has\nnothing to do with South Africa or South Africans? Can the EU, the South\nAfrican Government or the Sri Lankan Government provide the answer!&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If\nEU is funding human rights initiatives in South Africa via the Foundation for\nHuman Rights who the hell allowed ITJP to be administered through the\nFoundation for Human Rights? What is the connection with EU funded FHR &amp;\nITJP(SL) Sri Lanka is not South Africa \u2013 Sri Lanka is not even in the African\ncontinent!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fhr.org.za\/\">https:\/\/www.fhr.org.za<\/a>(put\na search for the name ITJPSL \u2013 all that appears is sorry, but nothing matched\nyour search items) There is something seriously amiss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If\nFHR website does not mention ITJPSL \u2013 how can ITJPSL on its website claim that\nit is being administered by FHR &amp; its Executive Director Sooka? (pl note\nthat since 2021 the ITJPSL introduction has been changed. Below a screen shot\nof previous introduction is given as proof)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Sooka became Foundation for Human Rights Executive Director from\n2001 to 2019 September.<\/li><li>If the EU paid for Sooka to function as Executive Director of\nFHR did the EU also pay for her to function as Director ITJPSL within the FHR?\n(2 salaries?)<\/li><li>The post of Executive Director FHR was passed on to Hanif Vally\nin August 2020.<\/li><li>Is Hanif Vally also the Director of ITJPSL or is Sooka\ncontinuing as ITJPSL Director &amp; is EU continuing to pay her?<\/li><li>If EU is not funding ITJP(SL) which is administered within FHR \u2013\nwho is?&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.fhr-mirror.org.za\/?ccm_paging_p_b2194=3\">https:\/\/www.fhr-mirror.org.za\/?ccm_paging_p_b2194=3<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/itjpsl.com\">https:\/\/itjpsl.com<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Though Sooka relinquished duties as Executive Director of FHR in\nSeptember 2019, the ITJPSL reports on Sri Lanka has only increased. Is FHR\nreally involved in South Africa or churning reports against Sri Lanka via\nITJPSL?<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Simple\nquestions \u2013 No answer!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.shenaliwaduge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Screen-Shot-2021-06-23-at-10.41.37-AM.png\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Till\n2020 the ITJPSL website gave this introduction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.shenaliwaduge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/ITJP.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.shenaliwaduge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Screen-Shot-2021-06-23-at-7.51.40-AM.png\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Hanif\nVally who was Deputy Director of Foundation for Human Rights became Executive\nDirector as per facebook post on 31 August 2020<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.shenaliwaduge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/ITJP-Hanif.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.shenaliwaduge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/ITJP-Sooka-300x63.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.shenaliwaduge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/FHR-1.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.shenaliwaduge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/FHR-2.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>While\nYasmin Sooka was paid to look into South Africa\u2019s human rights as Executive\nDirector, her time was obviously only directed to churning reports against Sri\nLanka through the ITJPSL. From2014-2021 (7 years), the ITJPSL and Sooka has\nissued a record breaking 164 reports on Sri Lanka in English, Tamil &amp;\nSinhalese. How many reports has she issued on South Africa? Some South Africans\nshould start counting!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Some\nof these reports are fallacious and filled with innuendos. That\u2019s nothing to be\nsurprised in her own words we released the report in time before the Geneva\nResolution because we wanted to influence the Geneva Resolution\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Give\nher applause, what a magnanimous gesture!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In\nJune 2018, ITJP &amp; Sooka submitted a list of 351 missing persons to the\nOffice of Missing Persons. With the hype of 40,000-20000 dead, she should have\nsubmitted the names of the dead first!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.shenaliwaduge.com\/can-yasmin-sooka-itjp-produce-a-civilian-list-of-missing-dead-instead-of-ltte-terrorists\/?doing_wp_cron=1624427105.5097439289093017578125\">https:\/\/www.shenaliwaduge.com\/can-yasmin-sooka-itjp-produce-a-civilian-list-of-missing-dead-instead-of-ltte-terrorists\/?doing_wp_cron=1624427105.5097439289093017578125<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.shenaliwaduge.com\/yasmin-sooka-itjp-blurring-distinction-of-civilian-slurring-sri-lanka-army-when-ltte-had-armed-civilian-killer-units\/\">https:\/\/www.shenaliwaduge.com\/yasmin-sooka-itjp-blurring-distinction-of-civilian-slurring-sri-lanka-army-when-ltte-had-armed-civilian-killer-units\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These\nreports of Sooka\u2019s are funded by powerful players \u2013 the 2014 ITJP report was\nfunded by the British Foreign Office through the Bar Human Rights Committee of\nEngland &amp; Wales. Funnily enough the majority of the 40 cited cases were\nformer LTTE illegal combatants seeking asylum in UK. Please keep them, UK!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>May\nwe ask, what is the Truth &amp; Reconciliation, Sooka has delivered to Sierra\nLeone or South Africa?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sooka\u2019s\ninvolvement with Sri Lanka has been as handpicked panel member of Ban Ki Moon\u2019s\npersonally commissioned Panel on Sri Lanka in 2011, co-authoring article\nagainst Sri Lank in 2012,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-wordpress wp-block-embed is-type-wp-embed is-provider-the-new-york-times\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\nhttp:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2012\/03\/03\/opinion\/revisiting-sri-lankas-bloody-war.html?_r=0\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>That\nbecame the stepping stone to be selected as a member of the Advisory Council of\nthe Sri Lanka Campaign for Peace &amp; Justice in which C4 Director Callum\nMaCrae was also member, along with a host of other anti-Sri Lanka personages \u2013\nBasil Fernando, Bruce Haig (patrol of Centre for Peace &amp; Conflict Studies)\n&amp; J Tissainayagam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So there was no surprise when she became \u2018comrade\u2019 to the Global\nTamil Forum &amp; invited as its Guest Speaker in 2013 to UK where TNA\u2019s\nSambanthan and Sumanthiran were also present. Sooka was the 2<sup>nd<\/sup>signatory\nin a petition by the Sri Lanka Campaign for Peace &amp; Justice in 2014 to\nwhich other signatories included Desmond Tutu, Bishop Rayappu Joseph (both\ndead), Sambanthan, Wigneswaran and 35 others.&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/archives\/28557\">http:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/archives\/28557<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Just as the EU, South Africa &amp; Sri Lanka must provide\nanswers, the Board of Trustees of Sigrid Rausing Trust must also explain why a\nTrust covering Balkans, Central &amp; Eastern Europe, Former Soviet Union,\nLebanon &amp; Turkey, Egypt, Tunisia, Kenya, Zimbabwe &amp; South Africa is funding\nITJP Sri Lanka since 2014? Sri Lanka is in Asia, not in East or Central Europe,\nAfrica or in the former Soviet Union!&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sigrid-rausing-trust.org\/\">https:\/\/www.sigrid-rausing-trust.org<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As per Trust website from 2014 to March 2019 the Sigrid Rausing\nTrust has given \u00a3471,500 to ITJP (Sri Lanka) and a further \u00a3300,000 from 1<sup>st<\/sup>April\n2019 to 2020. But the Trust\u2019s NewsStories from 2013 to 2020 does not cover a\nsingle story on Sri Lanka.&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.shenaliwaduge.com\/open-letter-to-the-sigrid-rausing-trust-on-yasmin-sooka-itjp\/\">https:\/\/www.shenaliwaduge.com\/open-letter-to-the-sigrid-rausing-trust-on-yasmin-sooka-itjp\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>EU\n&amp; Sigrid Rausing Trust by its association with the ITJPSL must have felt\nembarrassed when ITJPSL had to make an apology to Brig. Ravindra Dias for\nwrongfully using his picture claiming it to be Maj. Gen. Suresh Salley, the\nDirector of State Intelligence Service. Maj. Gen. Suresh Salley is taking legal\naction against Sooka separately!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.shenaliwaduge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/ITJP-apology.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The\nSri Lanka Foreign Ministry must take this up at diplomatic levels with the EU,\nthe South African Government and even withSigrid Rausing Trust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>EU\nfunds come from EU Tax Payers, this money is not meant to be used for witch\nhunts by individuals or groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Shenali D Waduge<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.shenaliwaduge.com\/to-hide-embarrassment-to-comrade-sooka-itjpsl-ltte-diaspora-campaigns-against-sri-lankas-defense-attache-in-uk\/\">https:\/\/www.shenaliwaduge.com\/to-hide-embarrassment-to-comrade-sooka-itjpsl-ltte-diaspora-campaigns-against-sri-lankas-defense-attache-in-uk\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.shenaliwaduge.com\/why-is-yasmin-sooka-so-obsessed-with-sri-lankas-affairs\/\">https:\/\/www.shenaliwaduge.com\/why-is-yasmin-sooka-so-obsessed-with-sri-lankas-affairs\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Shenali D Waduge We seek clarification from the EU, South Africa &amp; the Government of Sri Lanka. In 1996, the European Union created the Foundation for Human Rights in South Africa and appointed Yasmin Sooka as its Executive Director in 2001 paid by the EU. The Foundation for Human Rights is funded by EU and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-115463","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-shenali-waduge"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115463","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=115463"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115463\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=115463"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=115463"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=115463"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}