13 February 2008
Lost Innocents had the pleasure of spending the afternoon yesterday with an extraordinary gentleman named Kimmie Weeks. Kimmie was nine years old when the Liberian civil war reached him. He talked about his family’s displacement and the hunger and disease that they were subject to. Emaciated, jaundiced and cholera-stricken, Kimmie was placed in a pile of dead bodies at his IDP camp and left for dead. But he survived, and made a promise that if he made it out of that camp, he would dedicate his life to child rights advocacy. He believed that no child should know the kinds of suffering that war brought to his country. With the courage and innocence of a young boy, he initiated a children’s disarmament campaign in Liberia, meeting with various warlords including Charles Taylor about the issue of child soldiers. It was a children’s plea for their fellow peers. These efforts were effective, but after Taylor became president and Kimmie began to investigate Taylor’s training of child soldiers, his life was in jeopardy, and Kimmie had to flee the country.
Understanding the realities of war, and the challenges that remain long after conflicts are over, he continues his activism today with his organization Youth Action International trying to promote local, sustainable, grassroots initiatives empowering young people in post-conflict areas. In nine years, he hopes to run for President of Liberia. We wish him well.
Filed by Sangu at February 13th, 2008 under demobilization, Rehabilitation, Liberia
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2008 marks Sri Lanka’s 60th anniversary as well as the official end of the ceasefire agreement between the government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE. The Asia Society hosted a panel discussion yesterday exploring “The Failure of the Peace Process and Its Implications.” Panelists included Ahilan Kadirgamar, from the Sri Lanka Democracy Forum, Asoka Bandarage, a professor at Georgetown University, and Rajiva Wijesinha, a representative from the government who joined us via telephone. V.V. Ganeshananthan moderated the discussion.
An audio file of the event can be heard here.
Filed by Sangu at February 13th, 2008 under Sri Lanka
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7 February 2008
Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui, a former rebel leader from the DRC was arrested and has become the third Congolese leader to be sent to the Hague. In addition to murder and sexual slavery, Chui faces six counts of war crimes including the use of child soldiers.
Filed by Sangu at February 7th, 2008 under ICC, DRC
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4 February 2008
2008 marks Sri Lanka’s 60th anniversary of independence, but many worry this will be a year of war. After the official end of the 2002 Norway brokered ceasefire, the country has born witness to escalated military attacks as well as numerous bombings, including attacks on a bus, railway station, and zoo. A series of bombs coincided with today’s independence celebrations.
What if we change 2008 from being the year of continued violence to the year of the Sri Lankan Child?
Filed by Sangu at February 4th, 2008 under Sri Lanka
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1 February 2008
The Watchlist on Children in Armed conflict just launched their new report: Getting it Done and Doing it Right. It’s a global study on the implementation of the UN-led Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism for children in armed conflict. Country specific reports for DRC, Colombia and Sri Lanka are also available.
Filed by Sangu at February 1st, 2008 under Colombia, Sri Lanka, DRC, United Nations
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The African Union just commissioned a study to explore the role of female child soldiers in conflicts on the continent.
“The Pan African body is seeking to study the relationship between male child soldiers and their female counterparts, with regard to their role-play in the conflicts, as a means of addressing the issue through effective policy recommendations, the official said.”
Filed by Sangu at February 1st, 2008 under Girl soldiers, African Union
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4 January 2008
Tomorrow, Saturday Jan. 5 at 7:30 PM, Lost Innocents‘ Gordon Skinner, Sarra Idris, and Sangamithra Iyer will be the guests on the Manhattan News Network program “Something to Offer,” hosted by Anne Marie Offer. Check it out on Channel 56 on Time Warner Cable or Channel 83 on RCN.
Filed by Sangu at January 4th, 2008 under In the News
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3 January 2008
This week has been a particularly challenging one in Sri Lanka. On Wednesday, the government officially withdrew from the 2002 cease-fire agreement brokered in 2002 by Norway. Fighting had resumed in Sri Lanka since 2006 and about 5,000 people have been killed since then. The past several months included heightened offensives on both sides.
Also on Wednesday, an army bus was bombed killing four people and injuring 24 others. Earlier this week, T. Maheswaran, a Sri Lankan Tamil MP was was shot dead at a Hindu Temple in Colombo.
The Sri Lankan government demanded the LTTE disarm before revisiting peace talks.
The lack of a cease-fire will impact international monitoring and Norway’s representatives will likely leave, which some fear will allow for human rights abuses, killings, and disappearances to continue unchecked.
Filed by Sangu at January 3rd, 2008 under Sri Lanka, Miscellaneous
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20 December 2007
Doctors Without Borders has compiled their 10th annual top 10 list of most underreported humanitarian stories. This year, Sri Lanka, Democratic Republic of Congo and Colombia—the countries of focus for the Lost Innocents documentary—all made the list. Escalated violence in Sri Lanka and Eastern DRC as well as continued fighting in Colombia all have an impact on children in these conflict zones. Next year, Lost Innocents will bring back their stories.
Filed by Sangu at December 20th, 2007 under MSF, Colombia, Sri Lanka, DRC
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29 November 2007
As the Lost Innocents film crew gears up to go to the tear-shaped island of Sri Lanka, we’re keeping tabs on what appears to be heightened offensives by both the government and the Tamil Tigers. Earlier this month, the political head of the Tamil Tigers, S. P. Tamilselvan along with five others were killed in an airstrike by the government. There has been an attack on the Tiger Radio Station Voice of Tigers. Security forces were also accused of the the arson attack on the Sunday Leader publication.
On Monday, the head of the Tamil Tigers, Velupillai Prabhakaran, celebrated his 53rd birthday, while the goverment vowed to make it his last. Attacks on the Tiger-controlled areas of Jaffna and Wanni were responsible for the deaths of both Tigers and civilians, including 11 schoolchildren.
This week alone has also been a challenging one for Colombo. On Wednesday, a female suicide bomber blew herself up in an attempt to assassinate Social Welfare Minister Douglas Devananda. Hours later, a bomb exploded at a department store in the suburbs of the capital killing at least 17 people.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon issued a statement calling for “an end to the destructive spiral of violence in Sri Lanka,” and further urged “all the parties to the conflict [Government forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)] to return to the peace process while making every effort to ensure the protection of civilians.”
Filed by Sangu at November 29th, 2007 under Sri Lanka
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