Monday, December 10, 2007, 17:42 GMT, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Dec 10, Colombo: Civil Defence Force formerly known as Homeguards have recruited 400 youth to defend villages bordering Wilpattu National Park against the
ethnic cleansing attacks by the Tamil Tigers.
According to the police sources 200 of these Homeguards are presently being trained by the Army and will be appointed to the villages before 15 Dec.
The Homeguards are to be deployed at hamlets located from Aluthgama to Bogamuwa along the border of the Wilpattu National Park. Tamil Tigers launched several
attacks at the villages in the Thanthirimale area killing few villagers during the last couple of weeks.
Potato farmers in Matale worry over lower prices offered for their harvest
Monday, December 10, 2007, 17:51 GMT, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Dec 10, Colombo: Potato farmers in Matale district have become helpless due to the lower prices offered for their harvest.
The farmers in Mahawela, Pallepola, Yatawatte, and Dorakumbura areas cultivated potato for this year and said to have a relatively rich harvest this time than
previous years.
The farmers told media that the present prices have come down to Rs. 10 per kilo. They further told that if they sell their products at this price they would not be able
to recover the costs. To get a reasonable profit the price should be kept at least at Rs. 25 per kilo, the farmers added.
Sri Lanka maid's "forced confession" may still be used in death penalty appeal: AHRC11
December, 2007 10:53:00 Lanka Rates Writer Font size: An Asian human rights body expressed concern Tuesday that an allegedly coerced confession by a Sri Lankan domestic worker sentenced to death for murder in
Saudi Arabia may still be used against her in an appeal of the verdict to a higher court.
Teenager Rizana Nafeek, accused of murdering a four-month old baby while working in a Saudi Arabian home, was sentenced to death by Saudi Arabia’s Dawadani
court even though she protested her innocence.
The verdict was appealed to the country’s Appellate Court which began hearing her case on December 8.
“While the appeal is being heard there is still reason for concern as Saudi Arabian law places high value on confessions and whether the confession is obtained
through duress does not become the subject matter of a separate inquiry,” said the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) in a statement.
The Hong-Kong based organization said a confession obtained through duress is not regarded as inadmissible evidence under Saudi Arabian law.
Nafeek, who was 17 at the time of the alleged crime, was tortured by police to obtain a confession, the rights group charged.“Therefore there is still the possibility that this legal principle may be applied even at the appeal stage despite of there being no collaborative evidence of any sort to
indicate that there was any intentional murder,” the organization said in its statement.
“There are many persons in Saudi Arabia itself who have made representation in favour of Rizana Nafeek in this case and have stated many principles within Shariah
Law to the effect that under the circumstances of the present case there is good reason not to attach undue weight to the confession but that all the circumstances
should be taken in their totality in dealing with the case,” it added.
Nafeek claims the death was accidental.
“She claimed that while she was trying to bottle feed the infant without any assistance from any adult, the child choked which resulted in the death,” the AHRC said.
“There was no intentional killing and she had only been working in the household for just a few days before the incident happened,” it added.
AHRC, which is helping finance her appeal, called on people to appeal to Saudi Arabian King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud for clemency and pardon.
'' THEART TO SECURITY ''
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