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“in spite of my most diligent efforts, there would unquestionably be some raping.”

Gen George S Patton – US Army 1942

The U.N. Security Council, chaired by Hillary Clinton, as the United States holds the revolving presidency, unanimously passed a resolution in a bid to stop sexual violence during conflicts and to end impunity, Hillary Clinton remarked that rape was used as a weapon in the Sri Lanka during the armed conflict with the LTTE. As a matter of fact she has forgotten the sexual violence caused by the US Army since the WW 2. This article reveals some of the thought provoking factors related to Sexual Assault and Rape in the U.S. Military.

War and Sexual Violence

Although rape has been closely linked with the history of warfare and some view sexual violence as an inevitable concomitant of war in the present context it is a war crime. The term rape refers to forcible sexual intercourse with an unwilling partner. Rape involves varying degrees of physical and psychological trauma. Rape is extremely traumatizing. All rape victims suffer physical and psychological aftereffects. The persistent practice of rape in war is evocative of the misogyny of war as an extension of masculine hegemony.

US Army and the Sexual Violence During the World War 2

For World War II, comprehensive statistics of prosecutions of American military personnel are available for the European theater of operations. Those statistics indicate that rape was extensive. US servicemen were accused of raping French women and when the numbers were surging it alarmed the Overall Commander Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower and he issued a directive to U.S. Army commanders announcing his “grave concern,” and instructing that speedy and appropriate punishments be administered.

Rapes in Vietnam

In Vietnam, from 1 January 1965 to 31 January 1973, twenty army personnel and one air force man were convicted of rape, and fourteen army personnel were convicted of attempted rape or assault with intent to commit rape. In Vietnam (1970–73), one navy serviceman and thirteen Marine Corpsmen were convicted of rape. However, these conviction numbers in no way reflect the actual number of incidents. Among these atrocities most horrific incident occurred in August 1967. A 13-year-old Vietnamese child was raped by American MI interrogator of the Army’s 196th Infantry Brigade. The soldier was convicted only of indecent acts with a child and assault. He served seven months and sixteen days for his crime.

The Persian Gulf War

During Persian Gulf War twenty?four female American military personnel were subjected to rape, attempted rape, or sexual assault by American military men, according to official records. During the last Gulf war, 8% of women sent overseas were sexually assaulted or raped, according to a study by researchers for the Department of Veterans’ Affairs.

Rapes within the Establishment

According to Lucinda Marshall US feminine activist there were 2947 reports of sexual assaults in the military in 2006, an increase in reports of 24% over 2005. More recently, there have been the well-publicized cases of Lance Cpl Maria Lauterbach who was murdered after accusing another Marine of rape, and Jamie Leigh Jones who says that she was gang-raped while working for Halliburton/KBR in Iraq. Jones claims that after she reported her rape, the company put her in a shipping container and warned her that she would lose her job if she left Iraq for medical treatment. Beth Jameson, a major in the US army reserve, who was assigned to a large staging area in Kuwait. She was raped on March 20 2003, the first night of the war, in the shower block during an alert for a feared chemical attack.

More than 200,000 women now serve in the US military, with at least 15,000 stationed in Iraq. The US Miles Foundation had received credible reports of rape or sexual assault (in the period August 2002 to August 2003) from 243 women serving in the US military in Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain and Afghanistan. The data suggests that nearly 1,400 women reported being assaulted and raped by their fellow soldiers, in some cases by their commanding officers. The Pentagon has released new reports in which one-third of military women say they’ve been sexually harassed.

Torture of POWs by the Pvt Lynndie England of US Army

Lynndie England, a young female soldier from a poor town in West Virginia,became a notorious symbol of sexual violence. She was found guilty of sexually and psychologically abusing the POW s of Abu Ghraib prison.

Pvt Lynndie England was a United States Army reservist who served in the 372 nd Military Police Company. She was one of eleven military personnel convicted in 2005 by the Army courts martial in connection with the torture and prisoner abuse at the Abu Ghraib prison. In Baghdad during the occupation of Iraq.

The case of Abeer Qassim Hamza

14-year-old Abeer Qassim Hamza lived with her family a few miles north of the Iraqi town of Mahmoudiya. On the 12 th of March 2006 three US soldiers went drinking and then changed out of their uniforms in to dark clothes. They burst in to her house. According to the affidavit, Steven Green, a private in the US Army, took Abeer’s family -her mother, Fikhriya Taha; her father, Qassim Hamza; and her 5-year-old sister, Hadeel Qassim Hamza — into a bedroom and killed them. He came out, blood on his clothes, bragging about what he’d just done. Then he and another soldier took turns raping Abeer. When they were done, they shot and killed her. Then they set fire to her body.

Steven Green , former US Soldier was convicted of the rape and murder of 14-year-old Abeer al-Janabi and the killing of her mother, father and six-year-old sister in Baghdad in 2006. In his trial Steven Green said “ you all can act like I am a Psychopath or a sexual predator or whatever….But if I had never gone to Iraq I would never have got caught up in anything like this. ”

Article By Dr Ruwan M Jayatunge M.D.

Anarkalli Aakarsha Jayatilaka (born July 11, 1987) is a Sri Lankan film and teledramaactress. She was crowned Miss Sri Lanka 2004 and represented Sri Lanka at the Miss World 2004 beauty pageant.

Jayatilaka’s first public opportunity to act came when Somaratne Dissanayake and Renuka Balasuriya, who directed and produced the teledrama Iti Pahan in 1995, were in search of a little girl who was fluent in English. In the drama, she performed the role of “Daisy Susan” beside renowned actress Vasanthi Chaturani.

After a nearly seven year hiatus, she returned to acting in 2003 when, at 15, she was cast in a lead role in Pissu Trible.Subsequently, she performed in several successful movies, and received acclaim in teledrama performances with her roles as “Inoka” in Sihinayak Paata Paatin and ‘Tanya’ in Santhuwaranaya.

Jayatilaka also works as a model, brand ambassador, presenter and often makes appearances in song visuals.

Anarkalli will contest for the Galle District for upcoming Southern Provincial Council Election, says United People’s Freedom Alliance(UPFA) General Secretary.

SYNOPSIS

Sandhya Rani (Malini Fonseka) is an ageing film star who was once the darling of the silver screen. Having lost fame and fortune in a changing world, she now lives quietly in obscurity. She ekes out a living by renting out a room in her home to the film and television stars of today to satisfy their illicit sexual desires.

The popular young film star, Shalika (Dilhani Ekanayake), uses this room to carry on an affair with a young actor. When Shalika’s infidelity is unmasked by her husband, the scandal and its publicity forces Rani into the limelight again.

In the spotlight once again, Rani is suddenly forced to come to terms with a dark secret of her past – a secret she thought she had buried forever. As she confronts the demons of her past, she journeys in search of a truth she abandoned long ago…

Read the rest of this entry »

Compiled by Dr Ruwan M Jayatunge

drrumj@gmail.com

The Holocaust was the attempt to exterminate all the Jews in Europe. Racially based genocide plan killed more than 6 million Jews including two million children and 5 million others during 1941 to 1945. The Holocaust was not a randomly conducted atrocity which resulted on high emotions. It was systematically and meticulously planned for years. The Nazis built concentration camps for the purpose of forced labour and gassing victims.

Holocaust and the German People

Hitler came to power in 1933. He did not seize power. Hitler was elected by the votes of the German people. Many Germans at that era considered Hitler as the savior of the Germany. Hitler was obsessed with racial hygiene. His speeches became very popular and people responded positively to his theory of racial supremacy. Hitler’s Mein Kampf became one of the popular and admired books in Germany. Hitler believed that Aryan superiority was being threatened particularly by the Jewish race. Many of the German people grasped this idea without contesting. Hitler’s ability to arouse in his supporters emotions of anger and hate often resulted in their committing acts of violence. The Holocaust was the ultimate culmination of his violence, terror and brutality.

For 12 years Germany was ruled by the Nazi Party and opposition had no place to survive. No one was dare to challenge Hitler. A frightened society was forced to obey unimaginable orders. Hitler’s campaign of extermination of Jewish people was camouflaged from the German Public. The average Germans knew nothing about the horrors that took place in the Concentration camps. The NAZI Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels constantly reported that there were no mass extermination of Jews in Germany or in the occupied territories. Despite the governing Nazi iron fist German humanitarians like Oscar Schindler helped to save the lives of 12,000 Jews.

Kristallnacht

When Hitler came to power over 500,000 Jews lived in Germany. They were Germanized and had no major conflicts with the rest of the population. Anti Semitic propaganda of the new Nazi regime changed the racial harmony. On November 9, 1938 the Nazis unleashed a wave of attacks against the German Jews which was called Kristallnacht, (Christal Night) or the “the Night of Broken Glass.” The gangs of Nazi youth roamed through Jewish neighborhoods breaking windows of Jewish businesses and homes, burning synagogues and looting. Joseph Goebbels was the chief architect of the Kristallnacht, attack on the German Jews, which historians consider to be the commencement of the Nazi violence culminating in the Holocaust.

Final Solution

The Final Solution was Nazi Germany’s plan to exterminate Jews in Germany and in the occupied territories. Final Solution evolved between 1933 and 1941. Heinrich Himmler and Adolf Eichmann were the chief architects of the plan.

Adolf Eichmann who was responsible for Jewish affairs helped plan and implement the Holocaust. The Nazis decided to exterminate Europe’s Jewish population. Eichmann was appointed to coordinate the identification, assembly, and transportation of millions of Jews from occupied Europe to the Nazi death camps. Himmler the chief of SS was in charge of the mass destruction that killed 11 million people, including six million Jews.

Adolf Hitler publicly announced annihilation of the Jews in many occasions. When dealing with the Western powers Hitler threatened to use the Jews as hostages.

In Mein Kampf Hitler wrote “If at the beginning of, or during, the war 12,000 or 15,000 of these Jewish corrupters of the people had been plunged into an asphyxiating gas…the sacrifice of millions of soldiers would not have been in vain.”

Holocaust Action Plan

In the beginning of the systematic mass murder of Jews, Nazis used mobile killing squads. In September 1941, the Nazis began using gassing vans–trucks loaded with groups of people who were locked in and asphyxiated by carbon monoxide. These vans were used until the completion of the first death camp, Chelmno, which began operations in late 1941. Nazis established 15,000 camps in the occupied countries. In these extermination camps attempts were made to utilize the fat from the bodies of the victims in the commercial manufacture of soap.

Auschwitz was the biggest death camp. A large number of prisoners died as a result of starvation, executions, disease , torture, and criminal medical experiments. four million people were exterminated at Auschwitz.

In 1933, there were approximately 9 million Jews in Europe. By 1945, the Nazi’s had reduced that number to about 3 million. The conditions in the concentration camps were horrific. Colonel Gerald Draper, a British military officer recalled the state of the survivors at the time of liberation in the following account:

“Men and women clad in rags, and barely able to move from starvation and typhus lay in their straw bunks in every state of filth and degradation. The dead and dying could not be distinguished. Men and women collapsed as they walked and fell dead.”

Holocaust denial

Holocaust denial is an anti Semitic propaganda movements to develop to deny or minimize the established history of Nazi genocide against the Jews. The Jewish organizations blame Holocaust deniers to minimizing the human cost of Holocaust and deliberately manipulating historical evidence as part of an ideological and racist agenda. In several countries, including Israel, France, Germany and Austria, “Holocaust denial” is against the law. Once a Holocaust survivor expressed that a person who denies the Holocaust becomes part of the crime of the Holocaust itself.”

Psychological Impact of Holocaust

The Holocaust was both individual and collective to the Jewish people. The survivors faced catastrophic stress situations and had adjustment difficulties to integrate in to the society. They were overwhelmed by  feelings of fear, avoidance, guilt, pity and anxiety.  Many survivors showed   apathy and hopelessness. Their  second   generation  too were affected for some extent. The  collective trauma  associated with heightened sensitivity to anti-semitism and persecution.

Holocaust changed the face of the Jewish people and their political vision. The Holocaust of World War II united the Jewish Diaspora and focused international attention on the plight of persecuted Jews. There can be no doubt of the connection that exists between the Holocaust and the establishment of the State of Israel.

The conflict between Israel and Palatine has the historical roots as well as the effects of Holocaust. Some view Israel atrocity against the Palatine people as a form of a Freudian defense mechanism which is called projection or   attributing uncomfortable feelings to others. Today Gaza strip has become the   Guernica of the Spanish Civil War.

Holocaust and its Significance

The significance of the Holocaust is that it was the greatest act of hate and atrocity committed against humanity in the last thousand years or more. Holocaust shows the savage part of human nature which proved what human beings are capable of. Holocaust represent a human enigma. It taught a humankind a lesson  how  a bunch of extremists could tern a civilized society in to a killing ground.

Every normal person, in fact, is only normal on the average. His ego approximates to that of the psychotic in some part or other and to a greater or lesser extent.

Sigmund Freud

Dr Ruwan m Jayatunge MD – rumj@sltnet.lk

The eminent English poet and playwright William Shakespeare created many characters that appear to be afflicted by psychological and psychiatric disorders. Shakespeare had an exclusive ability to grasp the dynamics of the human mind and fathom the dysfunctions of the human psyche. Indeed Shakespeare was very comprehensible in his descriptions of various psychological and psychiatric symptoms. Shakespeare’s influence on psychopathology was immeasurable. Many of Shakespeare’s lead characters seem to be having mental disorders and even psychoses.

William Shakespeare’s work confers a wide range of human mental conditions including psychopathology. There are many Shakespearean characters show numerous criteria for mental disorders that is discussed in DSM 4(Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, a manual published by the American Psychiatric Association that covers all mental health disorders for both children and adults) and the ICD 10 (The International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems classified by the WHO) Read the rest of this entry »

Dr Ruwan M Jayatunge MD – rumj@sltnet.lk

Alexander Pushkin and Mikhail Lermontov were Great Russian romantic poets who lived in the 19th century. They knew each other and adored each other’s work. Both were rebellious in nature. Alexander Pushkin was the pioneer of Russian literature. Among his major works Ruslan and Ludmila , Evgenii Onegin, and Boris Godunov can be considered as the greatest masterpiece of Russian literature. Although Pushkin was a genius in literature the Russian Czar did not tolerate his poems which carried the elements of protests. Pushkin was a daring activist who secretly involved with an underground revolutionary group and also publicly expressed his supported for the Decembrist uprising which demeaned feudal reforms. As result of his rebellious attitude Pushkin was banished from St Petersburg.

In 1827 he composed the ode titled The Poet

Until he hears Apollo’s call
To make a hallowed sacrifice,
A Poet lives in feeble thrall
To people’s empty vanities;
And silent is his sacred lyre,
His soul partakes of chilly sleep,
And of the world’s unworthy sons
He is, perhaps, the very least.

Pushkin knew the suffering of the peasants under the Czar’s regime. As a member of the upper Russian social class Pushkin was never fascinated by its glory. He had a mission in his life. Pushkin often used his writing to express the agony and suppression of the Russian people. Hence he was hated by the regime. But the general public recognized Pushkin as a great poet and respected him. Gradually he became the envy of the Royal Palace. Read the rest of this entry »

Dr Ruwan M Jayatunge MD

I still recall the words of one of my teachers Mr. Vethali Ivanovich who introduced me to the songs of Vladimir Vysotsky in 1986. He said “if you want to learn the Russian soul listen to Vysotsky” A poet, songwriter and actor, Vladimir Vysotsky was the most famous Russian bard. He is adored by millions of Russians today.

Vladimir Vysotsky, who began performing in the 1960s, was quite critical of the regime, highlighting bureaucracy criticizing the unfair privileges of the elite and objecting the repression. His lyrics took position on the Soviet status quo. But he loved his country and he was a true Russian. Vladimir Vysotsky could be considered as the Russian Bob Dylan. He was the voice of the silent generation of the Soviet Union. Read the rest of this entry »

Dr. Ruwan M JayatungeM.D.

My role in society, or any artist’s or poet’s role, is to try and express what we all feel. Not to tell people how to feel. Not as a preacher, not as a leader, but as a reflection of us all.”
John Lennon

John Lennon who was an inspirational character changed music in to a new direction. He was one of the key figures in the Post War generation whose music and the ideology changed the world. Lennon was a humanitarian. He condemned violence and truthfully worked for peace. John Lennon’s music, philosophy and mission is still adored by millions of people. He is an immortal in people’s hearts. Read the rest of this entry »

Bathiya and Santhush (BNS) are Sri Lanka’s most accomplished musical duo in the field of ethnic fusion music. In the last 5 years the duo have secured over 350 live performances, a music publishing contract with Universal Music, a recording contract with SONY BMG Music Entertainment / M entertainment and released 3 platinum albums.

Since their inception in 1998, the duo have achieved fourteen entries in the Sri Lankan music charts along with 7 number-one singles. Their single Siri Sangabodhi Maligawedi off the album Life was the the first ever multilingual [English and Singhalese] hit to be played on English Radio after 3 decades. The latest album Neththara released in 2005 sold up to 75,000 copies in just 5 months. The album has been ranked as one of the highest selling Sony Music releases in Sri Lanka. Read the rest of this entry »