NO ROOM FOR MISTAKES IN MANN  Sunday 22 July 2012 This week’s attack on the Mannar Courthouse by a mob is one more in a strange series of incidents which seem to threaten the very underpinnings of the System — or what’s loosely termed the social contract that governs the smooth functioning of government. There were earlier the political goons that ran amock in the Southern Province, and then before that in the remembered past, the grease yakka incidents, of course now culminating in the so called crime wave in which rapes of underage persons are – often falsely – blamed on the government. The Mannar Court attack is one in a line of incidents where perception is the most dangerous thing the government has to contend with. This does not mean that the facts adduced by those who want a government minister arrested over the serious incident of stone-throwing at a Courthouse are necessarily flawed. The minister concerned has denied the story. The president has ordered the IGP to conduct an investigation. Says the minister that the people took the law into their own hands, as Muslim fishermen in the area, whom he for the most part represents, were angry at a Court ruling in which the Mannar magistrate refused to have a fishery mooring-station revert to Muslim residents after the long drawn out war. The magistrate also apparently ordered the arrest of some Muslim fishermen for arson, for having attacked a Tamil fisher colony. If so, the question remains why Minister Bathiudeen is not asking the fishermen who stoned the Courthouse to turn themselves in. They may be his supporters. But stoning a Courthouse is a serious assault on the entire edifice required for the smooth functioning of society — as said earlier, such acts threaten the very basis of the social contract. Mr. Bathiudeen may not want to antagonize his support base, but that, to invert the phrase, is not understandable. He has told a newspaper that he was not in Mannar in the first instance, when the mob rioted. Well, the minister did not have to be in Mannar at all, if he really wanted to incite a mob. This commentator is not suggesting that he did. But the charges made against the minister by no ordinary person but a magistrate are so serious that he cannot hope to diffuse the situation by making cursory statements. He has to show that he really understands the import of what has happened. A mob has stoned and stormed a Courthouse. This is serious obstruction of justice, and a minister with a previous record of erratic behaviour – he has on some occasions pulled a gun on bystanders in public altercations – has to indicate that he knows what the mob has done is utterly condemnable. And to do that, he has to before all else, roundly condemn the mob, something as stated before, he has not done so far… He denies the fact that he phoned the Mannar magistrate and asked him to overturn a Court order, but then, this is a magistrate that’s making these charges, and it is most unlikely that such an officer of the law would have made such a complaint without sufficient reason to do so. The president has ordered an investigation - and for the record, the IGP can find out whether a call originated to the Mannar magistrate from any of Minister Bathiudeen’s phone numbers. A newspaper has opined that there is an ethno-political colouration to the incident because Muslim fishermen are angry over the fact that a fishery mooring-station has not been returned to them after the war ended. The newspaper stopped short of saying that the minister is Muslim, and the judge is Tamil! Such attempts to rationalize, or is it sanitize, the incident, are dangerous. An injustice may have well been done to the community, and nobody from afar is able to ascertain that to any degree of conviction in a hurry. But injustices happen all the time, and sometimes they can happen through the agency of Court. That’s no reason for a mob to take the law into its own hands, and go berserk stoning the Courthouse, trying to damage the Courts complex. It has also been reported that the magistrate ordered the police to shoot at the mob, and this newspaper learns reliably that there is video footage showing the magistrate asking the police to shoot at the unlawful assembly of stone throwers. If the minister was incorrigible, the magistrate was bordering on lunacy, to ask the police to shoot. If the police has done so and there were shots fired and people died, the calamity ensuing would have been of incalculable proportions. It seems therefore that things have gone out of control in Mannar. It is above all imperative that the status quo ante-sanity, in one word — is restored. If the minister was behind the attack on the Courthouse there should be no way out for him other than resignation or outright sacking. Fair enough that an investigation has been ordered. But it has to be a serious one, and has to take cognizance of the fact that it is a magistrate making the complaint. In the evolving narrative, there seems to be a certain keenness on the one hand, to impute motives to the magistrate for his ruling on the mooring-station/arson dispute. It is true that if a magistrate was truly biased, it would be difficult to get a baying mob to understand that storming the Courthouse is not the best way of reacting to perceived injustice. But ministers are not the mob, the cabinet is not a mob, the IGP is not the mob – and the president is not the mob. It is imperative for the very existence of the social contract that the inquiry into this incident is swift, impartial, and a no-nonsense exercise that would bring the minister to book if he was guilty. If he wasn’t, very solid evidence has to be supplied to the contrary, as the people would not be gullible to prevarications and/or lame rationalizations. If indeed it also appears that there was an injustice done to the people, the Muslims of the area, that has to be undone by legal process. There is a process of appeal, as the magistrate has himself reminded. The mills of justice may grind slowly, and that may not satisfy either the minister or the impatient mob in Mannar, but people everywhere have had to regularly face perceived injustice through the agency of fallible Courts. If this incident is treated as just another that’s explicable and can be wished away, we could face the most dangerous moment in the very existence of the our entire democratic edifice. Posted by Thavam

Concern in Sri Lanka over rising number of child rapes

18 July 2012

A 13-year-old girl in Sri Lanka has identified four men including a local government politician who she says were involved in gang-raping her in the south of the country last month.

Rape and molestation are now 'the favourite pastime of mid-level politicians', critics say

It is one of a series of alleged rapes, especially of children.

Such cases have recently been reported in alarming numbers - police say 700 minors have been victims since January.

No-one has been tried, but suspects in several cases are politicians from Sri Lanka's governing UPFA coalition.

To date, 22 suspects have been remanded in the case of the 13-year-old girl.

Newspaper reports say they include the urban councillor from the town of Tengalle, a millionaire businessman and owners or managers of several hotels.

Separately, the UPFA head of the local council in the southern town of Akuressa has been remanded for alleged abuse of a girl, 14, at a guesthouse he owns.

The Women and Media Collective (WMC) , a campaign group, has denounced the alleged crimes, saying Sri Lanka is a society where "perpetrators of heinous crimes against women and children can live with little fear of the law".

Other recent cases include:

• A soldier accused of raping a six-year-old girl
• A worker in Colombo's main conference centre arrested over the rape of a 15-year-old, yet swiftly bailed
• The rape and murder of a six-year-old by a male relative and two friends
• The abduction and rape of a 13-year-old girl by the son of a wealthy businessman

Senior Buddhist monk Thibbotuwawe Sri Siddhartha Sumangala Thera told a visiting delegation of governing party MPs that he was "not satisfied with the current situation in the country" and that "deterrent punishment should be given to people found guilty of child abuse".

Research by BBC Sinhala reveals that over the past decade, more than 100 Buddhist monks have been charged for sexual and physical assaults on minors. Very few have been convicted. About 20 Christian priests have also been investigated.

Opposition politician Sarath Fonseka said rape and molestation were now "the favourite pastime of mid-level politicians".

Child Development and Women's Affairs Minister Tissa Karaliyadda says he has drawn up a draft letter tightening up laws against child abuse, including possible death sentences.

Why Minister Badurdeen the brute is so much worth for MaRa and Gota

MaRa regime v judiciary reaches peak

(Lanka-e-News-21.July.2012, 11.30PM) It is a widespread question among the people , why hooligan of a Minister Badurdeen is more important to MaRa and Gota than adherence to clear benign laws and rules of discipline in the country . Why is the Govt. seeking to protect this bestial Minister ? Of course, there is an answer to this. Rishard Badurdeen is the individual who was accountable for millions and millions of rupees in the fund of the Communist trust Fund (CTF) which was launched on behalf of the Muslims along with Bayagotha. That is why the Govt. is inextricably interwoven with and deeply beholden to Badurdeen . The CTF was the largest fund in SL run with its headquarters in Puttalam . The income from it was in billions and its assets were also in billions. It was Pattani Razik who was the Chairman and founder of the fund . In 2010 he was abducted and went missing. His body was later found buried and it was discovered on 2012-07-28 in a cesspit in the house of the coordinating secretary , Shahabdeen Naushad of this hooligan brutal Minister Rishard Badurdeen. Rishard Badurdeen and Gota together sought to paint a picture that was the culmination of an extortion plot. After Razik’s murder , two individuals were appointed to the CTF fund supposedly from the defense Ministry to the Directors Board. Rishard’s stooges also were appointed. Thereafter , what happened to the billions and billions of funds that were in the CTF is still unknown. Like the abducted victims in SL they vanished without trace . It is on this swindle , the unholy ties between Gota and Rishard are built . Rishard who is aware that Gota will back him in any crime or misdeed therefore fearlessly threatened the Magistrate of Mannar. Rishard who plundered the CTF funds for and on behalf of the Govt. certainly knows Gota’s overriding trait – that is , he will not care two hoots for the laws of the country as long as funds come into his and Govt. coffers even illegally . In the circumstances , when Govt. and Gota are promoting lawlessness for their sordid benefits , it is the duty of the people to consolidate the legal system and safeguard the sacrosanct judiciary their final savior. In this battle , the judiciary has openly come forward now. In this peak struggle if the MaRa regime succeeds , it will spell doom forever for the people. It will mean lawlessness will ride roughshod . Justice will go to the dogs. Already when the bestial Ministers and dogs in human form of MaRa are threatening and stoning judges , tomorrow , MaRa’s dogs will be vested with the power to excrete in the mouths of the judges and Lawyers . Now MaRa’s dogs raise one leg to urinate , but tomorrow they would raise their entire hindquarters to urinate in the headquarters of the judges. A great Statesman said , a slave is a slave because he consents to slavery . But , in SL even when judges are treated as slaves , are they to consent to that treatment ? On the other hand , if the judiciary succeeds , the people are also headed for success . If the MaRa regime succeeds, then , sadly people will have to inevitably face doom and gloom forever , and the country will continue to be terrorized. Hence , we pray and hope that the judiciary will succeed.

Why Are Buddhists Committing Genocide Again?

Tim King Salem-News.com Jul-20-2012

Before it was Sri Lanka; now bloody Buddhist hands are robbing life on an epic scale in Burma.

Kaladan.com

(SALEM) - Buddhist militants are committing genocide again for the second time in only three years, proving that secular violence is increasingly the method of Buddhist regimes that have taken on increasing political-military roles. Three years ago, the Sinhalese Buddhist government of Sri Lanka committed Genocide on the Tamil Hindus and Christians in the country's north, numbers of disappeared are estimated at 160,000. It was the extension of a long and bloody pogrom to eliminate this ancient culture.

Now the Buddhists have turned their blood lust on the Muslims in Burma, or Myanmar, whatever one calls it today, and the list of dead is rising. Burma is the scene of increasing western interest, and it is a violent mess of a place where Rohingya (Arakan) Muslims are being slaughtered in a spate of religious ethnic cleansing.

All the place has known for years and years, is the jack boot military junta that has ruled the people with an iron fist. Now that the eyes of the west are upon it and a new political direction has been taken, it is this ethnic group that is falling through the cracks; their plight ignored by western media.

"Although Western media sources have reported that 80 people have been killed, numerous reports from Rohingya rights groups in the region estimate the number of Rohingya slaughtered at up to 6000 and the displacement of over 90,000." - Fahad Ansari

Myanmar, where the primary exports are heroin and methamphetamine for Thailand's drug market. I have heard horror stories to no end about the terrible drug addiction issues in Bangkok and other cities, where people become shells of human beings from meth-based drugs and the killer h. So a handful of Burmese power players are happy to see the restrictions on trade loosened by Obama, but there will be no positive impact for Rohingya Muslims.

An official with the United Nations, admitted that Rohingya Muslims are one of the most neglected and abused populations in existence. The truth of the matter is that their presence in Arakan dates as far back as the 7th Century. In other words, there are no legitimate reasons to make this group second-class citizens. They are denied nearly every right, treated as sub-humns, and the government even refuses to issue identification cards or birth certificates to the Rohingya.

Why are they suffering right now?

Because Buddhists are among the world's violent cultures in the modern age, When riled, they operate in mob fashion. They're doing it in Burma and God knows, they did it in Sri Lanka.

In fact it was 29 years ago this month, that Buddhist mobs stormed homes and businesses of Sri Lankan Tamils; laying waste to everything they laid their hands on and murdering more than 3000 human beings. There was rape, there were fires, it was pure carnage and I have heard much about it from first-hand witnesses. That bout of Buddhist violence against innocent Tamil civilians, was set off by the results of a military battle. The resistance force that defended Tamils, the Tamil Tigers, had a firefight with the Sri Lankan Army (SLA) and killed less than twenty SLA soldiers. The Buddhists killed thousands of Tamil civilians in reprisal, over the Tigers' military victory. The Sri Lankan Buddhists take on the face of terrorist very quickly, yet the beleaguered Tamil Tigers would receive the 'terrorist' brand, and then watch their people die by the tens of thousands in a brutal military genocide.

Killer Buddhists, a Jagged Pill to Swallow Read Full Article

Over 15,000 Still Reported Missing

Saturday, July 21, 2012
Over 15,000 are still reported missing in the ethnic conflict, according to statistics by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in its annual report for 2011 which was released last week.
The report said that as of December 31 last year the ICRC is still handling the cases of 15,780 people reported missing.
Of this figure there are 1495 minors and 751 women, the ICRC report said.
Thousands of people had lost touch with relatives during the former conflict and in its immediate aftermath, and many such cases reported to the ICRC remained unresolved.
The ICRC discussed the plight of separated family members with the Defence Ministry during bilateral meetings in 2011 and continued to monitor the implementation of laws and creation of entities that could have an impact for missing persons and their families.
The ICRC said that despite very restricted space for independent humanitarian action, it continued to contribute to addressing the consequences of the former armed conflict, operating whenever possible in partnership with the Sri Lanka Red Cross Society.
ICRC delegates visited detainees, including those arrested and held in relation to the armed conflict, with a focus on those held under the Emergency Regulations or suspected of affiliation with the LTTE.
They checked on inmates’ treatment and living conditions and reported their findings and recommendations confidentially to the detaining authorities. With the National Society, the ICRC facilitated a number of family visits to detained relatives.
To assist the authorities in improving detention conditions, particularly in relation to overcrowding, the ICRC organized environmental engineering assessments of four prisons, identifying areas for improvement and providing realistic proposals for remedial action.
Subsequently, rehabilitation work began and the ICRC discussed with the authorities administrative factors contributing to overcrowding, as well as possible solutions, such as respect for judicial guarantees, the report said.
Following a government order issued in late 2010 to close the ICRC’s remaining sub-delegations in the north and curtail planned assistance activities, several proposed programmes to assist resettling or returning populations did not take place.
Cancelled programmes included the provision of seed and tools to farmers to boost crop production; the provision of tackle to fishermen to help them resume livelihood activities; cash grants or vocational training to vulnerable families to invest in improving their future; and the rehabilitation and/or extension of municipal water systems, the ICRC report said.
While people, including migrants, continued to request the ICRC’s help in searching for family members unaccounted for, restrictions on ICRC access to people in the affected areas limited its ability to play a direct role in restoring family links.

Former CIA Agent Publicly States: Osama bin Laden Died Five Years Ago

Tim King Salem-News.com

The only thing the man ever did was deny involvement in 911.

Former U.S. Agent says Osama bin Laden Died Five Years Ago

(SALEM / TEHRAN) - Long before the dramatic "killing" of Usama bin Laden by U.S. Navy SEAL's in Pakistan, I wrote about the impossibility of the man being alive.

First and foremost, and this is common knowledge; he was suffering from kidney failure and required dialysis treatments to stay alive. This complicated medical procedure, we are supposed to believe, according to the Obama account, had been taking place in a cave and then this house in Pakistan, while the man had an extraordinary price tag of $25 million U.S. on his head in a poverty ridden and diverse country.

The most difficult part to accept, is nobody calling the Americansever, until the highly touted Obama operation, to cash in on the deal. It is very hard to believe, and there is a long list of men who look like him in the Middle east; a long list.

And to consider that Obama is no better; using this fictional story to boost the current U.S. President's popularity just before reelection. In this act, Obama pulled a Bush. He preyed upon the moral decency of people who would never believe their national elected leaders would lie to them in this way.

For the record, I do not believe that the U.S. Navy Sailors who participated in that mission into Pakistan as part of a SEAL team, are any direct part of this.

Of course the changing images of this terrorist over the years... that was another priceless part of this U.S. concocted plan to take this nation to war in the Middle east.

What red blooded American is comfortable making this point besides myself and a handful of other writers? Yet I ask, how can anyone miss the extraordinary timing of bin Laden's 'appearances' that mysteriously manifested supposedly through Al Jazeera? Every time Bush was sweating it or needing to move some political item, there was bin Laden threatening "our freedoms" and what a crock it all is.

The only thing the man ever did was deny involvement in 911. His words were carried by major media and we have published them many times; they are published below, along with the FBI wanted poster for him that had no reference to 911 whatsoever.

New Revelation     Read Full Article

TNA Holds Urgent Meeting With Foreign Missions

Tamil prisoners from Vavuniya beaten and treated inhumanly

By Easwaran Rutnam     Saturday, July 21, 2012

Suresh Premachandran

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has had an urgent meeting with officials from Foreign Missions in Colombo after it was revealed that several Tamil prisoners in Vavuniya were abused, beaten and mistreated following the recent hostage drama.

TNA MP Suresh Premachandran said that during the meeting held on Thursday evening, the officials from the Foreign Missions were briefed on the plight of the Tamil political prisoners including  22 of them who were injured following the attempt by the police to rescue three jailors.
Premachandran said that he had met the prisoners who had been transferred out of the Vavuniya prison following the incident on June 28 and are now at the Mahara prison and some of them claim to have been abused.
“We briefed the Foreign Mission officials on the inhuman manner in which these prisoners are being treated. The government is trying to mislead the public by saying that these prisoners are working with the support of some people overseas. All that is rubbish,” Premachandran said.
He said that some of the prisoners he had spoken to had claimed that they were beaten on the head, some had their legs broken and that there are even those who were assaulted while they were unconscious following the Vavuniya prison incident.
A group of prisoners at the Vavuniya prison took three jail guards hostage on June 28 after three LTTE suspects were transferred out of the prison.
After a standoff which lasted for several hours the police and Special Task Force (STF) fired teargas and made their way into the prison and rescued the jail guards.
The Vavuniya prison was later closed and all the prisoners were transferred to Anuradhapura and a few other prisons.
One prisoner who was injured during the incident succumbed to his injuries while receiving treatment in hospital. Premachandran said that at least one other risoner is in critical condition.
The TNA MP claims that top officials at the Anuradhapura prison had sanctioned the abuse of the Tamil prisoners who were transferred there.
He said that most of the prisoners injured during the police rescue operation and after that need urgent medical attention.

அரசாங்கத்தை பாதுகாக்க வேண்டியது படையினரின் பிரதான கடமை; ஜகத் ஜயசூரிய தெரிவிப்பு

‘Uthayan’ editor questioned

FRIDAY, 20 JULY 2012

The Editor of ‘Uthayan’, a newspaper published in Jaffna, has been questioned by the CID regarding a news story published in the newspaper referring to Army Commander Jagath Jayasuirya

The Chief Editor of the newspaper Mr. Premanand had been asked to visit the CID head office in Jaffna at 9.30 a.m. on the 18th and the CID had questioned him for four hours say reports.

A special team of the CID from Colombo had recorded the statement by Mr. Premanand.

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அரசியலில் ஈடுபட எதிர்பாராது அரசாங்கத்தை பாதுகாக்க வேண்டியது படையினரின் பிரதான கடமையாகும் என சிறீலங்காவின் இராணுவத் தளபதி ஜகத் ஜயசூரிய தெரிவித்துள்ளார். கடந்த காலத்தில் கடமையாற்றிய சில இராணுவத் தளபதிகளைப் போன்று படைவீரர்களின் கருத்துக்களை தாம் உதாசீனம் செய்யவில்லை என அவர் குறிப்பிட்டதுடன், படை வீரர்கள் எந்த நேரத்திலும் தம்மை சந்தித்து தமது கருத்துக்களை வெளியிட சந்தர்ப்பம் வழங்கப்பட்டுள்ளது. நாட்டின் வளமான சுபீட்சத்திற்காக படையினர் தொடர்ச்சியாக அர்ப்பணிப்புடன் செயற்பட வேண்டும் என அவர் கோரிக்கை விடுத்துள்ளார் on July 18, an article was published reporting on a recent interview given by Jayasuriya where he had asserted that protecting the president was the most important duty of the Sri Lankan Army. ------------------------------------------------------ CID questions Uthayan Editor The Editor of the Jaffna based Uthayan newspaper was questioned by the CID yesterday following a news story referring to Army Commander Jagath Jayasuirya The CID had asked the Chief Editor of the newspaper to visit the CID head office in Jaffna at 9.30 am yesterday. The Editor of the newspaper Mr. Premanand had represented the news paper during the inquiry which lasted 4 hours, sources said. Police spokesman Ajith Rohana said the a special team of the CID from Colombo, had recorded a statement from the regarding a news story that was published in the newspaper.

TNA To Submit Prisoner Report To UN Human Rights Council

By Dinouk Colombage  Saturday, July 21, 2012

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) is in the process of preparing a report over the abuse of several Tamil prisoners, and the death of one, in Vavuniya. This report is to be submitted to the UN Human Rights Council, according to TNA spokesman Suresh Premachandran. Premachandran explained that, “we are preparing a detailed report over the unfortunate death of Ganesan Nimalaruban along with the abuse of several others. This is a serious matter, and one which the international community and the UN must be made aware of.” He said that they hoped to send the report to the UN “as soon as possible, ideally we will have it prepared by the end of next week.”
Earlier the TNA had submitted a report regarding the death and abuse of the Tamil prisoners in the Vavuniya prison to all of the foreign missions in Sri Lanka.
“The foreign missions have all expressed concern over the events, we now want this concern to spread to the UN”, Premachandran said.
Late last month 32 inmates, who were LTTE suspects, took three prison guards hostage in protest over prisoner transfers. The standoff lasted for 19 hours before members of the armed forces were dispatched to bring the situation under control.  One prisoner died during the rescue operation to free the prison guards while another is still in a coma. Human rights activists and TNA MPs later accused the prison authorities and the police of exacting revenge on the prisoners by physically harming them both during and after the rescue operation.

Attacks On The Judiciary Intensify

By Kumar David- July 20, 2012 

Prof. Kumar David

Intimidation, physical attacks, and undermining of the judiciary and the judicial system in Sri Lanka, is nothing new – more on that later – but it has taken an intensity, under the Mahinda Rajapakse regime, never before seen. If the government loses the three provincial council elections slated for September, it is so brazen that it will make a grab for dictatorial power to prevent or rig the parliamentary and presidential elections due in the coming years. Here are a few horror stories to give a flavour of how the dispensation of justice is being subverted.

Nearly sixty-five years ago my father, then a young man, started his judicial career as the Magistrate of Mannar, a little peninsular tongue in the far north-west of this once fair island; the poor man must now be turning in his grave. Four days ago that very courthouse was surrounded by thugs and stoned, the current magistrate (Mr Judson) was threatened and intimidated, and the Rajapakse government moved heaven and earth to prevent the news going public and international. The evil genius behind the violence was a government Cabinet Minister. The Judicial Officers Association and the Bar Association have demanded that contempt of court proceedings be brought against the Minister and the Chief Justice has been asked to take a stand. Expecting the government or the CJ to do anything more than sweep the dirt under the carpet is, of course, just pie in the sky.

Here is an extract from a report of the incident that appeared in a website which in turn was quoting from a statement of the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC).

“(A) group of criminals, sponsored allegedly by a Minister, stoned and attacked the High Court and the Magistrate’s Court in Mannar yesterday, 18 July. According to reports received, a fishingVadiya (landing area) was attacked by some people and on the basis of reports received the Magistrate directed the police to apprehend suspects. Thereafter the Minister is reported to have contacted the Magistrate with the view to influencing him to refrain from taking action. The Magistrate refused and insisted that the court order be executed. Thereafter a gang of thugs attacked the Magistrate’s Court and the High Court”.

(http://www.lankaenews.com/English/news.php?id=13036)

Further reports, for example one on twitter.com on 18 July by “Thavam”, give the name of the principle miscreant as Cabinet Minister Rishard Badurdeen and add:

“The Minister sent his henchmen and hooligans to chant slogans against the Magistrate in a most vilifying and humiliating manner and staged protests in front of the Court. The Minister also instigated his ‘people’ to hurl stones at the Magistrate court where Judge Judson hears cases and the high court where Judge Diyanendran hears cases, whereby the courts were devastated. Later the police took 8 suspects into custody”.

Many more incidents

Many more and a multiplying crescendo of incidents undermining the judiciary are rampant. All however fall into a common pattern; the miscreants are always leading national or local strongmen of the ruling party. The main suspect in a recent case where over a dozen thugs raped a 13 year old girl was a UPFA (ruling-alliance) Councillor of the Tangalla Municipal Council; Tangalla is located in the deep-south and nestles in the Rajapakse political heartland. The girl’s family and witnesses have received death threats that when the prime suspect is released, as he inevitably will be – this is Sri Lanka ok – the entirety of family and neighbours will be eliminated.

A brazen example of the ill-omened relationship between ruling party politicos and crime is the case of Julampitiye Amare wanted in connection with 24 murders. This person moves around freely and openly while the courts have been shouting themselves hoarse issuing arrest warrants. No policeman dare touch him because he gets protection from the highest places. “This is merely one among tens of thousands of cases where legal processes are flouted due to political influence”, the AHRC moans. Allegations of government politicos and Ministers working in cahoots with narcotics gangs are a dime a dozen and amply believed by a resigned public.

Readers in India and Asian countries are familiar with brazen collaboration of local and middle level politicians with commercial criminals and party thugs, and acquainted with collusion between the police, gangs and drug lords. They would however be mistaken were they to presume that the breakdown of law and the administration of justice in Sri Lanka, is no more extraordinary than these familiar happenings. There are two differences that make the Lankan case perilous; in Lanka the deterioration is steadily worsening, it is systematic and fits a pattern of rising political authoritarianism. Secondly, the levers of power, sometimes evoking and sometimes concealing these transgressions, reach all the way to the highest citadels of power.

Political manipulation of judges

I said at the beginning that the decline of the judiciary in Sri Lanka is not a new phenomenon. The Criminal Justice Commission (Justices HNG Fernando, AC Alles, VT Thamotherum, H Deheragoda and SD Wimalaratne) was set up by Mrs Bandaranaike’s government to try the leaders of the 1971 JVP Insurrection. It is common knowledge that the bloodlust of the state’s forces which reached its horrific zenith in 1989-90 (second JVP uprising) and 2008-09 (closing phase of the anti-LTTE war) had its origin in the post-1971 phase. Unpardonably, the Bandaranaike government permitted the police to torture, brutalise, and kill with abandon, in the aftermath of the Insurrection, but what is not so well known is that the corrosion of the higher judiciary, culminating in its decline into a pliant instrument in the hands of the Executive today, had its origins in the CJC. The Commission made light from the bench of police brutality and extra-judicial murder, had no qualms in admitting confessions extracted under torture, and was dismissive of torture of JVP cadres and leaders while in custody. It is appropriate to be reminded of these habits of our judiciary, armed forces and police at this time.

The next government, that of President J.R. Jayewardene, is also culpable of contributing to the decline of the judiciary. Two glaring incidents come to mind. When a police officer was convicted and fined for obstructing the constitutional rights of a demonstration (the Vivienne Gunawardena case) the Justice Minister Lalith Athulathmudali intervened, paid the fine from government funds and promoted the officer just to show the ‘bloody judiciary’ where to get off. The second incident was when a mob surrounded the residence of the then Chief Justice and hurled abuse and pelted stones while the police stood idly by. The mob was orchestrated by Jayewardene and Athulathmudali.

This is the background against which we have to cognize the behaviour of today’s Supreme Court which is expected to safeguard the Constitution from abuse and manipulation by the country’s Executive President. In its handling of the Eighteenth Amendment and a bill to take-over 23 companies at an accelerated pace, the Court sadly and comprehensively forfeited the trust of the public.

It is the lower judiciary, sans leadership from the top judges, that is now fighting back against the decadence and kowtowing of the higher echelons before an authoritarian regime. What a sad and conspicuous difference from India and Pakistan; if anything in the latter, a hyperactive Supreme Court is resorting to unwarranted political activism; but this less pernicious than a kowtowing court.

Asian Parliamentarians to discuss ways for eliminating torture 

translated versions :-

 Bahasa Indonesian, Burmese,  Filipino, French , Korean, Sinhalaese, Hindi

( July 20, 2012, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka Guardian) Parliamentarians from several Asian countries are poised to meet and discuss ways to end the widespread practice of torture and ill-treatment in their countries. The three day meeting will take place in Kowloon, Hong Kong, starting on July 21st.

The meeting is a significant step towards the implementation of the United Nations' Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (UNCAT).

Parliamentarians from Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines and Sri Lanka have already confirmed their participation. Several prominent human rights activists from South and South-East Asia will also be traveling to Hong Kong to contribute to the discussion.

The meeting is sponsored by the Asian Alliance against Torture and ill-treatment (AAATI). AAATI was initiated in July 2011, when a group of human rights activists from several Asian countries came together under the auspices of the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), Hong Kong, and the Rehabilitation and Research Centre for Torture Victims (RCT), Denmark. The alliance aims to make a concerted effort to introduce legislation in all Asian countries along the lines of UNCAT, and to ensure effective implementation of such critical laws that can safeguard human beings from torture and ill-treatment.

John Clancey, Chairperson of the AHRC, will present the keynote speech, and Dr. Jan Ole Haagensen, Director of the International Department of RCT, will present the theme paper, which will seek to provide an overall approach and strategy for effective elimination of torture in Asia. Several prominent members of Hong Kong human rights community will present their unique perspectives. And, the invited parliamentarians from each country will present papers on the subject, which will be discussed by all participants.

Professor Ole Espersen, former Minister of Justice, Denmark, has sent his greetings to the participants of the conference, stating that the "right not to be exposed to torture is in fact no real and genuine right if it is not combined with an effective remedy for the victims to make use of a legal machinery to have what the victim had to suffer redressed and guilty persons punished." In addition Professor Espersen has noted that the "ultimate responsibility for the national fight against torture – and all other human rights violations, rests with the parliament and the government in each country."

This meeting of parliamentarians from across Asian nations, who will gather in Hong Kong for the sole purpose of considering possibilities on how to bring an end to torture, is an unprecedented event.

Press release: Rights group warns shrinking space for expression on the Internet and social media in Asia

FORUM-ASIA

Thematics: Freedom of expression Friday, 20 July 2012

(Tokyo/Bangkok, 20 July 2012) The space for free speech and expression on the Internet and social media in Asia is shrinking and faces increasing challenges, said the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA), a Bangkok-based human rights NGO, during the launch of its latest report titled, “Internet and Social Media in Asia: Battleground for Freedom of Expression”, in Tokyo, Japan today.

Launched at the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Regional Internet Governance Forum, a multi-stakeholder meeting that involves governments, the private sector, as well as civil society across the region on issues relating to the Internet, the new publication illustrates current and emerging trends regarding the issue of freedom of expression on the Internet and social media in Asia through various case studies, and analyses legislations and policies across the region.

The publication describes the situation of freedom of expression on the Internet and social media in Asia as thus: “Voices of dissent emerging from these new spaces created by advancements on the Internet have often been met with harsh crackdown by governments. Those who express views that are contrary to dominant cultural and religious norms are particularly targeted – not only by governments but by non-state actors as well. The Internet and social media have thus become battlegrounds between those claiming and utilising the new space for free speech and expressions, and those who seek to close this space.”

Indeed, one of the main trends identified in the publication is the heightened measures to censor, block or filter out online contents during specific key political events. The publication provides several examples of this, including in Sri Lanka, where several websites were blocked on the eve of the presidential election in 2010; and in Malaysia, where severe disruptions of cellular communications were reported during a mass-scale rally demanding for free and fair elections in April 2012.

According to Yap Swee Seng, FORUM-ASIA’s executive director, “This particular trend of censoring and blocking online contents during key political events is expected to worsen considering the rise of popular movements that are critical of governments in many countries across Asia, coupled with several scheduled elections across the region in the next couple of years.”

Furthermore, most of these restrictive measures are implemented by governments in a non-transparent manner.

“The non-transparent manner of governments’ measures to restrict online contents makes it extremely difficult to determine whether these measures taken are indeed legitimate, necessary and proportionate under international human rights law,” said Yap.

The publication also highlights the increase of law amendments and new laws by governments in the region to further restrict freedom of expression on grounds of national security, cyber security, defamation and incitement to hatred. Yap said that while these laws at first glance may seem justifiable, they are often vaguely worded and overbroad, and easily open to abuse to criminalise free speech online.

Other trends noted in the publication are:

• The disproportionately severe penalties for merely exercising free speech;
• The increasing liability of intermediaries over online contents, and the growing pressure on intermediaries to play the role of regulating the Internet; and
• Violations of freedom of expression, including cyber attacks and physical threats and harassment, by non-state actors, who in some cases are allegedly employed by governments.

Yap stressed, “Non-state actors, such as corporations and Internet service providers, are increasingly being pressured by governments to play an increased regulating role as intermediaries. Several countries in Asia have held intermediaries liable for online contents, thus forcing them to block or remove certain contents that are deemed ‘undesirable’. This is indeed a very worrying development for freedom of expression online.”

Based on these trends, FORUM-ASIA called on governments, the private sector, and judicial bodies in the region to respect, promote and protect freedom of expression and other rights in accordance to international human rights laws and standards at all times. This includes:

• That any restriction to freedom of expression on the Internet must adhere to international human rights laws and standards, namely Article 19(3) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which provides for limitations only on narrow and clearly-defined grounds to protect the rights of others, as well as the principles of proportionality (ensuring that it is the least restrictive measure) and transparency;
• That any limitation to freedom of expression must be determined by an independent judicial body, and not left to the arbitrary powers of governments or intermediaries;
• That all governments should ratify the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), and ensure its implementation at the domestic level; and
• That all governments should decriminalise defamation.

The findings of this publication, together with its recommendations, will be presented at the Asia Pacific Regional Internet Governance Forum, currently being held in Tokyo, Japan.

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