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Groton Daily Independent
Saturday, Nov. 114, 2017 ~ Vol. 25 - No. 125 ~ 48 of 66
Buddhist Sinhalese majority.
More than 100,000 people were estimated to have died in the war, including at least up to 40,000 civil-
ians in its nal months, according to U.N. estimates. Sri Lankan authorities have denied targeting civilians and dispute the death toll.
Justice C.V. Wigneswaran, chief minister for Sri Lanka’s Northern Province and a former Supreme Court judge, sent a letter to the AP on Friday con rming similar rights abuses he has heard from Tamils in his northern constituency. He said he has previously urged the U.N. rights chief to demand an independent investigation.
“Unfortunately, this was overlooked,” he told the AP on Friday. “If the international mechanism was in place it would have acted as a deterrent to these military sadists.”
Despite Sri Lanka’s failure so far to investigate war crimes allegations stemming from its 26-year civil war against the Tamils and the latest accusations, the country’s international pro le is on the rise.
It still participates in U.N. peacekeeping missions and recently was asked to sit on a U.N. leadership committee trying to combat sexual abuse, despite its peacekeepers being implicated in the Haiti sex ring. U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric told The Associated Press late Friday that Secretary-General Antonio Guterres invited all 193 U.N. member states to be a part of the Circle of Leadership on sex abuse “and it
is particularly important for troop-contributing countries to play a role.”
Dujarric said all troops and police who are put forward for U.N. peacekeeping missions are investigated
“to ensure that they do not have a prior history of misconduct, including sexual exploitation and abuse, while serving in a U.N. peace operation.”
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Katy Daigle in Colombo, Sri Lanka, and Matthew Pennington and Richard Lardner in Washington con- tributed to this report.
Louis C.K. says he misused his power and ‘brought pain’ By MARK KENNEDY, AP Entertainment Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — With his career imploding over allegations of sexual misconduct, comedian Louis C.K. confessed Friday to masturbating in front of women and expressed remorse for wielding his in uence “irresponsibly.”
The comedian said in a statement that the harassment claims by ve women detailed in a New York Times report published Thursday “are true.”
“I can hardly wrap my head around the scope of hurt I brought on them,” he said.
“There is nothing about this that I forgive myself for,” he wrote. “And I have to reconcile it with who I am. Which is nothing compared to the task I left them with.”
He apologized to the cast and crew of several projects he’s been working on, his family, children and friends, his manager and the FX network, among others.
The 438-word statement ends with the comedian vowing to stop talking and leave the spotlight, stating, “I will now step back and take a long time to listen.”
The comedian stepped forward on the same day the indie distributor The Orchard said it will scrap the release of C.K.’s lm “I Love You, Daddy.” C.K. has already been edited out of the upcoming HBO bene t “Night of Too Many Stars” and his work is being scrubbed from the cable network’s vaults.
More fallout came Friday when Net ix said it will not produce a second planned standup special starring the comedian, citing his “unprofessional and inappropriate behavior.” He had been tapped for two specials, with the rst airing in April. At least ve of the comedian’s stand-up specials remain on Net ix.
In a further blow, FX Networks and FX Productions said they are ending their association with C.K., which means cancellation of a deal with his production company, Pig Newton, and removing him as executive producer on the four shows FX is making with him, including “Better Things,” ‘’Baskets,” ‘’One Mississippi” and “The Cops.” His compensation is ended as well, FX said.
C.K. behaved professionally on all his series for FX, “as far as we know,” according to a statement Friday.