| Sunday 14 August 2011 |
The United States has formally informed the Government of Sri Lanka that it wishes to have the LLRC report tabled at the UN Human Rights Council meeting in March 2012. It has not made a suggestion or a request but used the stiffer mechanism of delivering a demarche which is an official line of action carrying formal implication of, as yet unspecified, but possible follow up action in the event the demarche is ignored. It is less than an ultimatum but more than an indication of protest.
Why has the US taken this step? It is not hard to guess the State Department’s line of reasoning. First, if the LLRC report is not a whitewash (I will discuss that later), then, not just the US, but everyone knows the government will not release it or will excise vital sections for cock-and-bull reasons. In the event the report is not eyewash, the demarche is intended to embarrass and expose the government if it suppresses the report.
The second possible reason is that it puts pressure on LLRC commissioners, constraining them from crafting a document that leaves egg on their faces and blots on their copybooks. GoSL is likely to reject the US request, but if the LLRC report reaches the UNHRC, it will need to stand beside the Darusman Report, Channel 4 videos and whatever else the Tamil diaspora can dig up in the next eight months and flaunt at the Council or in its corridors. If the LLRC comes off as a lame cover-up, the personal reputations of the commissioners will be sullied. True in the past the outcome of every official commission has been a parade of commissioners dancing to the tune of the powers that be; I can’t recall one who won any respect. Nevertheless, by giving notice that reputations will be on the line, internationally, maybe the US hopes to stiffen the honourable commissioners’ backbones. Read more.. ====================================
Motive: Billions in the NGO’s possession A politico’s henchmen kill NGO boss
By Gayan Kumara Weerasingha Investigations carried out by the police into the kidnapping of Pattani Razik, the manager of the CTF Branch, an NGO in Puttalam, and the demand of Rs. two billion as ransom before his murder — this sum of money was not paid — reveals that the whole exercise had been launched by those involved with a politician. Razik had been working to uplift the lives of the people in the Puttalam district with the monies that the NGO had received.
This politician who is said to be serving in the UPFA government is now alleged to be doing his utmost to hamper the ongoing inquiries into the murder of Pattani Razik. The CID which launched inquiries into the killing of Razik first took into custody the secretary of a Minister.
This suspect who is a businessman was nabbed at Killinochchi when he was headed there to purchase some metal products. Working on the evidence provided by the secretary to the minister, the CID had then nabbed another suspect named Mohammad Mussdeen. This suspect who also directs short films was taken into custody in Kolonnawa. There is also another suspect who was allegedly involved in the slaying of Pattani Razik — but he has fled the country. Read more...
