Govt. attempting to borrow US$1 billion in international markets: Harsha

FRIDAY, 03 FEBRUARY 2012
The Government is planning to borrow US$1 billion in the international markets besides attempting to borrow US$500 million via the Bank of Ceylon. After the IMF had ended the US$ 2.6 billion bailout package charged UNP National List MP Harsha de Silva charged today.

Following is the text of the statement issued by him yesterday explaining the current financial position the country is in today.

“The verdict is out and for all practical purposes the IMF has abruptly ended the US$ 2.6 billion bailout package to Sri Lanka with US$ 800 million yet to be released given the failure of the government to keep to the agreed targets; particularly the net international reserve target. 

The unsustainable policy stance of fixing the currency at a highly overvalued and arbitrary level of LKR 114 to the USD by selling more than a third of the external reserves, most of it borrowed, and thereafter printing money to offset lost liquidity to maintain artificially low interest rates have resulted in a massive trade deficit and continued pressure on the LKR. 

The trade deficit of close to US$9 billion is unprecedented and unlike in previous years it cannot be offset by remittances and tourism earnings; a yawning gap of around 40 per cent remains. If as the governor says Sri Lanka has more than sufficient reserves and thus there is no need for additional borrowing this year then it is of no consequence that the IMF has stopped the facility. But, as was the case last week where the completely politicised Governor of the Central Bank attempted to fool the public by falsely stating a higher than the true rate of interest on the IMF loan this statement is nothing but pure gobbledygook. 

The Government is already planning to borrow US$1 billion in the international markets besides attempting to borrow US$ 500 million via the Bank of Ceylon.  Given the history of our sovereign bond program and the current global scenario Sri Lanka will not be able to borrow for anything less than twice the rate offered by the IMF. 

Arrogance and incompetence of the regime will in the coming months begin to bite as the adjustment on the exchange rate will have to be much bigger and the impact on the public will become much larger.

In the meantime, the export industry would also have felt a significant blow with increasingly less resources being invested in the sector relative to the GDP.  Ten years ago exports accounted for some 37per cent of GDP, but today, it is at 17 per cent and dropping.”     

Sri Lanka’s Multi Billion Rupee Commitment – Courtesy China

Southern Expressway, Nelum Pokuna Mahinda Rajapaksa Theatre and Hambantota Port Development Program

Friday, February 03, 2012

Sri Lanka has spent an astounding Rs. 391.7 billion on investment projects in the country in the last four years. This enormous amount of money has been spread over five projects, of which only two have been completed but are still to serve any real purpose.
All of these projects have been undertaken by Chinese firms, and have been funded by loans obtained from the Chinese state-owned Export-Import bank. Many of these loans have been taken with interest rates for long term borrowing (20 years) varying from 3% to 6%, and short term loans at an interest of 2%.

According to highly placed sources in the Finance Ministry, however, loans from the World Bank and Asian Development Bank for short term loans would have varied between 0.25% and 2%, while the interest rates for the long term loans are the same. It is believed that these loans would have come with stricter guidelines than what is being currently enforced by the Chinese. Read More »

Tyranny of the majority since 1948

Thugs — they came during the day and in the night, by the hundreds. In the first hours of July 24, 1983 — one day after a deadly ambush by Tamil Tigers which killed 13 Sri Lankan Army soldiers. Day of infamy — a 9/11 if you will — for Sri Lanka’s Tamils.

As the days ensued, Tamils were targeted on the capital streets of Colombo as they went about their day, inside busses on the way to work, at their businesses. Even while they were sleeping in their own homes — it didn’t matter. Homes were identified in spectacular Nazi-efficiency with the help of voters-list distributed by the government. The smashing of doors and windows, hinges flying in the midst of screams from inside and outside, even the pitter-patter of terrorized infants feet didn’t matter against the screeching thud of vicious thugs drunk on anti-Tamil rage.

When it was over, almost 3,000 members of the country’s Tamils lay dead due to the handy work of government orchestrated mobs. Homes and businesses of Tamils were looted and destroyed, over one million Tamils went into exile — many in Canada. To date, not a single perpetrator has been brought to justice. Few brave Sinhalese who protected Tamils from this unimaginable savagery — the few righteous ones on the island, represent a flickering spark of humanity in a country that had gone dark.

‘Black July’ — as it came to be called still ranks as one of the gruesome assaults suffered by the Tamils of Sri Lanka since its independence. Lawlessness reigning; where were the police, the safeguard of liberty? Marked by Sri Lankan law-enforcement’s quotidian boredom during this grotesque spectacle and the odd twists of fate, set the Tamils on the road to revolution in Sri Lanka resulting in an unconscionable outcome.

Ironically, in July, 1983, then-president of Sri Lanka, J.R. Jayawardene, told Ian Ward of London's Daily Telegraph, “I am not worried about the opinion of the Tamil people, now we cannot think of them, not about their lives or their opinion ... really if I starve the Tamils out, the Sinhala people will be happy.” His angry bravado is clearly reminiscent of the 1980s, when such callousness created more Tamil Tigers than it destroyed.      Full Story>>>

Sri Lanka raise rates, slows lending

  Yahoo! News  

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  This file illustration photo shows a man displaying 1,000 rupee notes, in Colombo. …

Sri Lanka's central bank on Friday raised its key interest rate for the first time in five years and asked commercial banks to reduce lending in the face of a worsening trade deficit.

The Central Bank of Sri Lanka hiked its benchmark lending rate by 50 basis points to 9.0 percent, the first rise since February 2007 when the rate was upped to 12.0 percent from 11.50 percent.

The bank also asked commercial banks to rein in lending, arguing that much of it financed the country's surging import bill, owing to higher oil costs and cheap credit that drew a flood of foreign-made vehicles into the country.

The Indian Ocean nation's trade deficit hit a record $8.83 billion in the first 11 months of last year, shrinking its foreign currency reserves.

The bank has spent more than $2 billion in recent months in direct market interventions to buttress the Sri Lankan rupee against the dollar as the trade deficit heaped pressure on the local currency.

The bank said Sri Lanka's foreign currency reserves fell to $5.9 billion at the end of 2011, compared with $8.1 billion in July 2011.

Among measures to discourage imports and encourage exporters, the country devalued its currency by 3.0 percent in November.

Central Bank governor Nivard Cabraal said earlier this week that the bank misjudged the credit expansion, as well as Sri Lanka's growing trade deficit.

"Imports were bigger than we expected and the credit growth was also something that we did not anticipate," Cabraal told reporters Tuesday.

The latest interest rate increase came despite the government announcing that inflation had moderated to 3.8 percent year-on-year in January, compared to 4.9 percent a month earlier.

Three years ago, the government was forced to negotiate a $2.6-billion bailout by International Monetary Fund at the end of the country's bloody decades-long civil war.

The government has since drawn down $1.8 billion, but announced earlier this week that it did not need the final tranche.

Kevin Rudd must up the ante on Sri Lanka

FRIDAY, 03 FEBRUARY 2012
As nations such as Canada and Britain weigh in on accountability for war crimes in Sri Lanka, it’s time for Australia to add its voice. After all, promoting human rights is a crucial part of foreign policy, as Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd is keen to say.

A month ago the Sri Lankan government’s Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission issued its long-awaited report. The commission was established by President Mahinda Rajapaksa in May 2010 to deflect mounting international pressure on accountability for alleged war crimes in the final months of the conflict with the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

As the UN Panel of Experts reported last April, tens of thousands of civilians were killed during that period, largely from indiscriminate shelling by government forces. Government forces were also implicated in extrajudicial killings, torture and the shelling of protected places such as hospitals, while LTTE abuses included using civilians as human shields, shooting people who tried to escape and forcibly conscripting child soldiers. Nearly three years after the conflict ended, in May 2009, there is still no accountability for any of these war crimes.

In the end, the commission’s report is disappointing. It discounts the worst government abuses, such as footage of summary executions of prisoners by uniformed soldiers shown in the British Channel 4 documentary Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields.

Though four independent experts told the UN the footage was genuine, the commission cast doubts on its authenticity and recommended further forensic testing. More surprising, while the commission concluded there were civilian casualties, it did not call for investigations into indiscriminate attacks.

The report rehashes longstanding recommendations on accountability from previous government commissions. There is no reason to believe the government will carry them out now, since it never has before. In short, the report does not advance accountability for victims of Sri Lanka’s armed conflict. Its serious shortcomings highlight the need for an international investigative mechanism into the wartime abuses, as the UN Panel of Experts recommended.

Last year, after Killing Fields aired on Australian television, Rudd called on the UN Human Rights Council, which at war’s end had publicly dismissed the possibility of government abuses, to reconsider its findings.

“I believe their deliberation on it was inadequate,” he said. “And I would call upon – as does the Australian government through its mission in Geneva – the Human Rights Council to revisit this matter.” He concluded that “no one watching this program could emerge from that undisturbed, and we don’t either”.

At the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in October, when Sri Lanka’s fitness to hold the next meeting was raised, Julia Gillard said: “On the question of human rights abuses and allegations of those abuses in Sri Lanka, the government’s position is we have consistently raised our concerns about human rights questions in the end stage of the conflict. These need to be addressed by Sri Lanka.”

Australia’s relationship with Sri Lanka has been somewhat complicated by the boatloads of ethnic Tamils heading to Australia and Australia’s co-operation with the Sri Lankan government to prevent people-smuggling. But Canada has faced similar issues, and this has not stopped Canada from speaking out strongly about accountability.

With a Human Rights Council session approaching next month, now is the time for the Australian government to show leadership in calling for the issue to be re-examined and assessing the need for an independent, international investigation.

Canada and Britain have issued statements expressing concern the LLRC’s report does not address the serious allegations of war crimes and calling for a credible independent mechanism. The Sri Lankan government has made it clear that it is not willing to impartially investigate these war crimes. So the international community needs to step in.

In April 2010, Australia issued a Human Rights Framework, saying the government will seek to “improve the protection and promotion of human rights at home, within our region and around the world”. While Rudd has spoken out strongly on Syria and Libya, he should show the same attention to human rights issues in Australia’s own region, and Sri Lanka would be the perfect place to start. (Source: Human Rights Watch)

Sri Lanka's Eastern Province passes resolution seeking land powers to the provinces

hu, Feb 2, 2012, 09:58 am SL Time, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Feb 02, Colombo: The Eastern Provincial Council of Sri Lanka has unanimously passed a resolution in the Council that land powers should be allocated to the provinces according to the 13th Amendment to the Constitution.
The resolution was presented to the Council by Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) councilor U.M.N. Mubin.
Eastern Province Secretary J.J. Muralitharan has said the resolution seeking land powers to the provinces had been unanimously approved in the council.
Meanwhile, Eastern Province Chief Minister Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan is to hold talks with the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) on the devolution of land and police powers to the provinces.
Eastern Provincial Council is ruled by Tamil People's Liberation Tigers (TMVP), political party formed by the former breakaway rebel group of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
The Sri Lankan government has expressed willingness to consider the land power is

Sri Lanka Says it Won'T Submit War Report to UN

By: | Associated Press   January 31, 2012

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) Sri Lanka says it will not forward to the U.N. its report clearing government forces of allegations they targeted civilians during the country's civil war, in an apparent attempt to avoid scrutiny of the document.

Sri Lanka last year successfully prevented discussion at the U.N. Human Rights Commission of an earlier U.N. report alleging that tens of thousands of civilians may have been killed during the final months of the war against separatist Tamil Tiger rebels.

The U.N. report said there were credible allegations of war crimes against both sides but that most civilian deaths were caused by government shelling, and called for an international inquiry. The Sri Lanka government argued at the time that it would conduct its own investigation instead.

British MP urges debate on LLRC report

FRIDAY, 03 FEBRUARY 2012
British Labour Party Bristol East MP Kerry McCarthy has called for a full debate in the British Parliament on the recommendations of Sri Lanka’s Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC).

Speaking during a Westminster Hall debate on Human Rights, Ms. McCarthy said, “We have recently had the report published by the LLRC. I hope that, at some point over the next few weeks, we will find time for a full debate on that in the House, because there are many question marks over the report, in relation to the terms of reference of the commission and its recommendations.”

During the same debate, Labour and Cooperative Party Ilford South MP Mike Gapes called for a United Nations inquiry into accountability issues in Sri Lanka.

“It is time to return to the Human Rights Council to push the issue up the agenda again. I know that last time there was a block. The HRC, disgracefully, commended the Sri Lankan government on its behaviour and refused to hold an international inquiry. I know it will be difficult to take the Security Council route, because China and probably Russia would block it and the non-permanent members, including India, probably would not be supportive either, as they were last time. Interestingly, the last time, among the opposing countries in the HRC was Mubarak’s Egypt. Things have moved on since then. Maybe, given developments in the Arab world, it might be time for us to go back and see whether there is now more international support to raise the issues again to get a UN inquiry,” Mr. Gapes said.

He said the Sri Lankan government must understand that setting up an internal process that did not have the confidence of the international community or the Tamil population will not lead to the necessary reconciliation within the country.

“People are still in detention or are not being allowed to go back to their homes. There are issues involving settlement and what is regarded as an attempt to change the demographics in the north of the island, and there are serious concerns about individual human rights abuses in Sri Lanka. The Government is all-powerful, the constitution gives the President great control and the Opposition – not just the Tamil Opposition but others—are intimidated or inhibited in many ways from doing what is needed internally,” Mr. Gapes said.

He said they need international support and solidarity and that is why it is important that the British Government speak out loudly, clearly and unambiguously, using whatever channels they can—the UN, the HRC and the Commonwealth—to raise those issues continuously,” he further stated. (Ayesha Zuhair)

Sri Lanka: UN Must Act at Next Human Rights Council Session

FEBRUARY 2, 2012

RELATED MATERIALS: 

Letter on Sri Lanka to Permanent Representatives of Human Rights Council Member and Observer States

The Human Rights Council is uniquely positioned to ensure that the deaths and injuries of tens of thousands of civilians in the last months of Sri Lanka’s conflict are properly investigated. The failure of the council to respond to one of the worst episodes of human rights abuse since its creation would only undermine its relevance.

Philippe Dam, acting Geneva advocacy director

(New York) – The United Nations Human Rights Council should address the lack of accountability for wartime abuses in Sri Lanka during its March 2012 session, Human Rights Watch said in aletter to Human Rights Council (HRC) member countries and observers today. Nearly three years since the end of the war, the Sri Lankan government has not kept its commitments to its people, the UN secretary-general, and the HRC to undertake credible measures towards accountability.

“The Human Rights Council is uniquely positioned to ensure that the deaths and injuries of tens of thousands of civilians in the last months of Sri Lanka’s conflict are properly investigated,” said Philippe Dam, acting Geneva advocacy director at Human Rights Watch. “The failure of the council to respond to one of the worst episodes of human rights abuse since its creation would only undermine its relevance.”

Human Rights Watch urged the HRC to adopt measures to implement the recommendations made to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon by his Panel of Experts, which found credible allegations of serious laws-of-war violations by government forces and the secessionist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. Among other things, the panel recommended establishing an independent international mechanism to monitor and assess the extent to which the Sri Lankan government is carrying out an effective domestic accountability process, to conduct investigations independently into the alleged violations, and to collect and safeguard for appropriate future use information provided to it.

The Sri Lankan government’s own Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission’s (LLRC) report, which the government has claimed will serve as the basis for a roadmap on accountability, largely exonerates the actions of government forces and ignores the findings of the UN Panel of Experts, said Human Rights Watch. While some of the recommendations on reconciliation are useful and should be implemented, it only calls for investigations into a handful of specific incidents and fails to address the indiscriminate use of heavy artillery against civilian areas.

The Sri Lankan government has recently suggested that the recommendations of the LLRC report, which will not be submitted to the HRC, will be implemented shortly. However, Sri Lanka has a long history of failed promises to prosecute serious human rights abuses. Human Rights Watch has documented serious abuses by both sides during the 26-year armed conflict that ended in May 2009, virtually none of which have been prosecuted.

“It has long been clear that justice and accountability will not come from the Sri Lankan government,” said Dam. “Only international action will address the suffering of victims.” 

Kevin Rudd must up the ante on Sri Lanka

The Australian 

• ELAINE PEARSON 
• From:The Australian 
• February 03, 2012 12:00AM

AS nations such as Canada and Britain weigh in on accountability for war crimes in Sri Lanka, it's time for Australia to add its voice. After all, promoting human rights is a crucial part of foreign policy, as Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd is keen to say.

A month ago the Sri Lankan government's Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission issued its long-awaited report. The commission was established by President Mahinda Rajapaksa in May 2010 to deflect mounting international pressure on accountability for alleged war crimes in the final months of the conflict with the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

Sinhala Buddhists Should Accept The Crimes They Committed Against Tamils

Personal Appeal for Peace from Thai Buddhist Sulak Sivaraksa

We would like to appeal to the Sinhala Buddhists first of all to acknowledge the crimes that they committed against their own Tamil sisters and brothers and ask for forgiveness from the Tamils. Rejoicing at the war victories, when thousands have been killed, ‘disappeared', maimed, raped and hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced and detained, is totally against the dhamma.

After all, forgiveness in Pali is apaya - no  fear - we should cultivate spiritual fearlessness.  Fear arises from construction of the other. Construction of the other arises from separation of self and other. This is ignorance. The enemy is, in fact, greed, hatred and ignorance. In order to be fearless one needs to break the fetters of ignorance and greed. It is the ideological attachment to a majority dominated state that has caused the war and led to enormous suffering. The notions of minority and majority are wrong perceptions. We are interrelated or ‘interbeing'. One who realizes interbeing is fearless. It is this fearlessness that can help transform the colonial construction of the Sri Lankan unitary state. This construction is based on greed and hatred.

Through deep Buddhist meditation we can realize our interbeing. In reality we all are friends, who may have different ethnicities. But with right-mindfulness (samma smadhi), we can see that they are all our friends, not enemies. The words war heroes and terrorists are misconceptions.  We can live together, acknowledging each other's dignity. Tamils are human beings and they should live their basic human rights as we do. They aspire to live in their own land just like the Sinhalese. The government of Sri Lanka should follow Emperor Asoka who transformed violence into loving kindness treating all diverse ethnicities in his empire with dignity and equal respect, upholding different cultures and religions. We need to follow the great Buddhist emperor in order to uphold the world in the twenty- first century in peace, truth and compassion. The Sri Lankan state needs a transformation.

The Machiavellian approach of exploitation and imperialism is coming to an end, as  the Buddhist teaching of anicca, impermanency has implied and as evidenced by the fact that the Roman and British empires have come to their ends and the American one is on the decline. The future of humankind depends on ahimsa and satyagraha. The power of the truth was not only expressed by Gandhi, but it was proclaimed by the Buddha. Once we confront the Noble Truth of Suffering ? not only individually but socially; we can then find out the causes of suffering, which link directly with greed lobha (capitalism and consumerism), hatred dosa (nationalism, militarism, pseudo-democracy), and delusion moha (mainstream education stressing on the head without cultivating the heart and mainstream mass media).

Then we can overcome social suffering through the Noble Eightfold Path of Sila not exploitative of oneself and others, samadhi, deep meditative practice of self-awareness, and panna, that is wisdom or true understanding, seeing that we are all interconnected. The Tamils and Sinhalese need to be brother and sister. If this is taken seriously as a reality not as a far-fetched ideal Sri Lanka can really be a land of the Buddha, with a small ?b?. Tamils and Sinhala could be side by side in unity and diversity. This will indeed be a good example of the country in the twenty-first century.  It will be a century marked by the strength of spirituality beyond hypocrisy and mediocrity.

Hillary Clinton’s letter causes a stir in the Cabinet

Thursday, 02 February 2012 

The Cabinet of Ministers has discussed at length about the letter that is said to have been sent by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, which is being distributed amongst media institutions, a senior government minister told Lanka News Web.

The President has angrily explained the contents of the letter to the ministers and said that the US was trying to oust him from power and replace the position by Sarath Fonseka or any other person who could be controlled by the Americans.

The President has spoken to External Affairs Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris who is scheduled to visit the US this month and asked him not to agree to anything proposed by the US. GL had been asked to handle the US the same manner in which the President handled India.

The President has boasted to the Cabinet of Ministers that he could have easily controlled the US issue if he had the freedom to travel to the country.

The senior minister said the ministers have remained silent because they were well aware of the consequences the country would have to face due to the President’s foolish ways of handling the diplomatic community.

Following is the letter believed to have been sent by Clinton:

Last Updated on Thursday, 02 February 2012 12:15

Cross party support grows for a call for an International Independent Investigation.

The All Party Parliamentary Group for Tamils (APPGT) in collaboration with the British Tamils Forum (BTF) hosted an exhibition and situation update event in Westminster on 31 January 2012. The event was held to inform UK Parliamentarians, members of the House of Lords and diplomats from various countries about atrocities that were committed during the war and on the current situation in Sri Lanka.

Several photos, books, publications, documentaries and videos were on display. There were also key eyewitnesses to the bloody war in Sri Lanka present at the event. Over 100 people attended the event and were given packs of information on leaving.

The UN expert panel called for an international mechanism to investigate alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Sri Lanka.

The much-awaited Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) report was released recently by the government of Sri Lanka. The LLRC commission has neither investigated nor dealt with the war crimes charges nor the charges of crimes against humanity.

The whereabouts of the children less than 5 years old who survived the war is still unknown and no information has been provided to date about those who were arrested with alleged connection to the LTTE.

Some of the photographic exhibits in the exhibition provide evidence that some of these people have been killed after being taken into custody.

Last Updated on Thursday, 02 February 2012 12:16

Plan to assassinate a prisoner in jail

Thursday, 02 February 2012

A senior official at the Defence Ministry is planning on assassinating the chief suspect in the murder of former Southern Provincial Council Minister Danny Hithtettiyage. The main suspect Madhush Lakshan is currently held in the Negombo Prison.

Commanding Officer of the Matara Army Camp, Captain Bharatha Kodituwakku had sent four soldiers from the Army Camp to murder the suspect last 19th when he was traveling from the Negombo Prison to the Negombo courts. However, the attempt to murder the prisoner failed due to the quick response of several prison guards.

Disturbed after seeing the incident being publicized in websites, the Defence Secretary had even appointed several officials to inquire as to how the websites had received the information.

Therefore, it has been decided to eliminate this prisoner before he becomes the center of more news stories.

As the first step, it has been decided to get the prisoner who is in the Negombo Prison under the purview of the Terrorism Investigations Division (TID). An official from the Defence Ministry and two officials from the Attorney general’s Department have yesterday drafted the necessary document to get a court order to make the transfer.

The suspect Madhush Lakshan had been involved in several rackets and crimes that had been carried out on the directive of the Rajapaksas. Disgruntled of being ignored, he has stated that he would make startling revelations about some of the crimes committed by him. Soon after the statement was made, armed groups affiliated to the government have been trying to destroy him.