From: vigneswa@ecs.umass.edu
Newsgroups: soc.culture.sri-lanka
Subject: Sri Lanka : In the International TV.....
Date: 28 Jan 93 11:05:28 GMT

Sri Lanka was again in the National TV, perhaps, in the International
TV. CNN's Sonya Life (January 26, 1993), with the headline Rape & War
iscussed  some current  international issues.  The  guests were, Jeri
Laber, Helsinki Watch; Marjory  Byler, Amnesty  International; Rhonda
Copelon, CUNY  Law  Professor; Judy  Darnell,  Registered  Nurse; and
Linda Fairstein, NYC Sex Crimes Prosecutor

===
Highlight:

	The atrocities of  the war in  Bosnia with  Serbian soldiers
raping women as a  weapon of war is discussed by concerned women who
have seen firsthand the results of this tactic.

Sonya: I'm Sonya Friedman. The invading soldiers to show their power
over the  enemy and to  humiliate him, rape the enemy's women.  It's
happening today in  Bosnia, and it's my subject on Sonya Live, today.
Rape as a weapon of war.
:
: 

Sonya: We know that  there are rape  camps.  I mean, it is suggested
that women are kept in these camps, in many cases, until they become
pregnant. One then, has to be clear about the fact that all kinds of
military officers at varieties  of levels have  to also be aware  of
those camps.  What does that say?
:
:
 
Sonya: Also  joining us  today are  Marjory  Byler, who is from  the
Amnesty  International, which detailed worldwide and systematic rape
in  Bosnia  in a  report  that was  released  last  week, and Rhonda
Copelon, who  is  co-director of  the  International  Women's  Human
Rights  Clinic, a  project  of the City  University of  New York Law
School.
 
[interviewing] Now, rape is  something that  has always been with us,
Marjory.  I  am interested in  knowing, is it  being selected out in
this  case because  it is  felt to  be so much  worse, and  what has
really been known throughout history when there's war?
 
Marjory Byler, Amnesty International:  Well, I think we  have access
to information in this case that does give us a sense of the massive
systematic use  of rape in Bosnia and in  other areas in former Yugo-
slavia. But Amnesty International certainly has been documenting the
use of rape in other parts of the world for many years.  And whether
or not we have more information here because the access to the infor-
mation - It's a European country.  It's not that far for some people
to get to, compared, for example, to rural Beirut where it  might be
more difficult or  somewhere  in  Sri Lanka  or India  or Bangladesh.
That's a question we could ask ourselves.  But, certainly, the syste-
matic  use of  rape in this  case is probably  not  unique in  other
situations of armed conflict.
 
Sonya: Indeed, Rhonda, as I hear this, and the word 'systematic' now
was used  twice by Marjory, and I think that the suggestion is clear
there from Jeri. Once again, we are asking, is this a tacit strategy
in order to produce the goals of war?  Very quickly, I mean, the pur-
pose of war is to subdue the will of  another over the  people, take
their territory, and then  become  the master.  And  in a way, isn't
that achieving those goals?

==

Well, Sri Lanka was specificall targetted here.  However, it is not
very pleasing to hear "Sri Lanka" in this kinds of discussions.


Vicky:
UMass, Jan 28