Education Minister has to resign

Education Minister has to resign

by Hana Ibrahim

( December 28, 2012, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) The Ministry of Education is winding up the year 2012 with another examination debacle. This time it is to do with the GCE Ordinary Level Science examination paper, which was found leaked.

The government is already embroiled in a legal imbroglio in the case of the 

impeachment motion against the Chief Justice. On the one hand, its legal and constitutional validity is being questioned while gross inefficiencies and incompetence are in wide display on the other. Not a very pleasant place to dwell in.

In a year of examination leaks, mishaps and frauds, the grand finale seems to be a joke. But the joke is really not in the numerous disasters that have turned the Education and Examination Departments into places of ridicule and laughter, the real joke is that the man in charge is still holding the post. Once again, the government has proven that accountability is not a very common commodity in their market.

Issuing a press release, Joseph Stalin, the General Secretary of the Ceylon Teachers’ Union stated that during a meeting attended by the Examinations Commissioner and Secretary to the Ministry of Education, the Education Minister had publicly admitted that 19 questions of the paper were leaked to some students prior to the examination, and questioned what guarantee the Education Minister give that other papers too, had not been leaked out?  He also charged that the minister was acting in an arbitrary manner in the face of the present crisis as he did during the 2011 GCE Advanced Level examination crisis.

It is a very grave indictment on the minister and the departments that come under him, Mahinda Jayasinghe, General Secretary of the Ceylon Teacher Service Union said in a separate statement that the entire education system was in a mess and the crisis in examinations and errors in results were frequent during the recent past. “Leaking of question papers prior to important examinations has become an open secret. The majority of the people are of the view that the leaking of question papers take place with the full knowledge of the government, the Education Minister and top officials of the ministry. People have not forgotten how the government hushed up the issue of the Grade Five Scholarship examination leak,” he pointed out  

Needless to say, calls for the minister to resign, which has been gathering momentum has reached a crescendo. If shame is in the make-up of the Minister Bandula Gunawardene, he should have resigned a long time ago.   

It’s not only the minister who should be answerable for the numerous leaks and frauds in the ministry. The Commissioner of Examinations along with the Secretary of the Ministry too need to be held accountable. Credibility of the whole system of examinations is at very low ebb. Children who study hard and their parents, who spend agonizing hours in anticipation of the results indicating success or failure, need to take very serious note of these repeated follies committed by government officials. The government remains utterly insensitive to these anguish and anxieties caused to the parents and their children.  

The government is already embroiled in a legal imbroglio in the case of the impeachment motion against the Chief Justice. On the one hand, its legal and constitutional validity is being questioned while gross inefficiencies and incompetence are in wide display on the other. Not a very pleasant place to dwell in.

In this senseless entanglement, the one person who has come to the rescue of the beleaguered minister is his own deputy. How could the Deputy Minister himself possibly dissociate from his boss? When the top starts rotting, the process seeps right down to the bottom, eating away the stem, the flesh and the marrow. The stench that it leaves behind becomes the legacy of the holder of office. That is exactly what is happening in the education sector in this country.

The President is silent, the rest of the Cabinet is silent and all other parliamentarians are silent and the only clatter emanates from the Trade Union sector. Where is the opposition in this country? When the people are neglected by the government and abandoned by the opposition, where do they look to for their solace?

The pace of the decline of the political culture that has been witnessed over the last couple of decades seems to have accelerated in the last two or three years. When racing cars get exempted from tariff and the essential food items are being taxed to the limit and when the masses are complaining and the leaders look the other way, what alternative does the common man have? The President and the Cabinet had better show a better way of governance.

(The writer is the editor of the Ceylon Today, a daily based in Colombo, where this piece was originally appeared)

Racing Tanks with Bicycles: A Parable of ‘Reconciliation’ in Sri Lanka

Racing Tanks with Bicycles: A Parable of ‘Reconciliation’ in Sri Lanka

 Groundviews-     27 Dec, 2012-Amal de Chickera

Photo via Facebook photo set by Akiy Photography, direct link here. Note that original photo does not blur the face of the child.

Some photographs of ‘aid’ being provided to Sri Lankan Tamils in Keppapilavu were recently posted online. The Keppapilavu community were the last to be released from the Menik Farm Camp, but were not allowed to return home, and instead were forcibly re-displaced into the wilderness. The aid was being provided by a youth group called ‘Sri Lanka Unites’ – whose objective is to promote reconciliation in Sri Lanka, in collaboration with the ‘Foundation of Goodness’ – a charity set up by a few Sri Lankan cricketers.

Four thoughts came to mind while browsing the pictures:

1. The scenes depicted were reminiscent of aid campaigns that characterised Africa in the ‘80s and ‘90s. Benevolent philanthropists extending a charitable arm to needy and helpless victims. Affluence meeting impoverishment, with the brash arrogance of those who have – that those who do not – only (or first) need material support. In these images there was no place for equality or dignity (for the displaced), mutual learning or forgiveness (for the affluent).
2. The military was central to the whole affair. They were handing out bicycles and school bags to little children of a community which recently had suffered immensely in a ruthless war between this same military and the LTTE. Despite the best efforts of the government, stories of the horrors of the end of the war have surfaced and will continue to do so, as will the demand for accountability, truth and justice.
3. Despite the ostentatious display of money available to ‘Sri Lanka Unites’, the sheer tokenism of their charitable gifts was hard to ignore. School bags for those with no access to a decent education. Bicycles for those who cannot move freely. Chairs for those whose land has been stolen. Material support to a community denied the right to remember their dead, protect their youth, manage their lives. It all rang hollow and counter-intuitive.
4. Finally, the ‘branding’ of the aid with the names, pictures and logos of the ‘donors’ – again reminiscent of the way many western and international agencies carry out their affairs – struck a distasteful and disrespectful chord; in other words, completely in keeping with both this series of photographs and the way many Sri Lankans have responded to the post-war situation.

The Parable                               Continue reading »

Coerced Conscription of Tamil Women by Sri Lankan Security Forces - Sexual Abuse reported: TGTE

Coerced Conscription of Tamil Women by Sri Lankan Security Forces - Sexual Abuse reported: TGTE

Coerced Conscription of Tamil Women by Sri Lankan Security Forces - Sexual Abuse reported: TGTE

1) Several women admitted to hospitals.

2) Family members barred from meeting their daughters.

3) 90,000 Tamil war widows facing abuses by the Security forces.

( December 25, 2012, New York City, Sri Lanka Guardian)  Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE) condemned the coerced conscription of over 140 young Tamil women by the Sri Lankan Security forces. TGTE also raised concerns about the behavior of the Security forces, when they entered women’s hostels of the Jaffna University on November 27th.

“Sri Lankan Security forces have a long history of sexually assaulting and raping Tamil women. Twenty one of the coarsely conscripted Tamil women have been admitted to hospitals with mentally affected state” said Mrs. Balambihai Murugadas, Minister for Women, Children and Elderly Affairs of the Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE).

“Even the family members were barred from visiting them in the hospitals and signals to their mobile phones were cut. Family members believe that these young Tamil women may have been sexually assaulted by the Sri Lankan Security forces.” continued Mrs. Balambihai Murugadas. “Sri Lankan Security forces are almost exclusively from the Sinhalese community.”

According to Women’s Action Network (WAN), these young Tamil women were living in destitute and vulnerable conditions following the end of the war and have applied for a training believing that this training is related to a local government agency and would receive Rs. 30,000 per month.

According to WAN, none of the women or their families were advised that they are being recruited to join the Sri Lankan Security Forces.

Currently, there are around 90,000 Tamil war widows facing severe economic hardship and frequently facing sexual abuses by the Sri Lankan Security Forces.

Tamil areas of that island are saturated with the Sri Lankan Security forces. Twelve of the fifteen Sri Lankan military divisions are stationed in Tamil areas.

‘It is vital that the international community take immediate action to create an International Protection Mechanism to protect Tamils in that island’ said Mrs. Balambihai Murugadas. “Tamil students are still in custody and they should be released’

Mrs. Balambihai Murugadas also urged the UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon to appoint an International Commission of Inquiry on Sri Lanka, under Article 99 of the UN Charter. According to the recently released UN’s internal investigation report on Sri Lanka, UN Secretary General’s own legal team recommended this action for the mass killing that took place in May 2009, when tens of thousands of Tamils were killed in five months.

As noted by the UN Internal Review Report given the constraint mandate of the LLRC coupled with the lack of an enabling environment for judicial follow up the UN Secretary General need not wait till the exhaustion of the domestic remedies. Justice delayed is justice denied.

Background:

Tamils have faced years of abuse by the successive Sri Lankan Governments. Since 1958, numerous mass killings of Tamils took place in that island and the mass killing in 2009, prompted the UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon to appoint a UN Panel of Experts for a report on the killings.

According to this UN Panel report, over 40,000 Tamils were killed in five months due to deliberate and intense carpet bombing of areas designated by the government as "no-fire zones", where Tamils assembled for safety. The Sri Lankan Government also restricted food and medicine for Tamils, resulting in large numbers of people dying from starvation and many of the injured bleeding to death. The UN Panel also recommended an International Commission of Inquiry.

Channel 4 TV produced two documentaries on these killings titled "Sri Lanka's Killing Fields”. After the Sri Lankan Government's military offensive, Bishop Rayappu noted that 146,679 people were still not accounted for in the region.

In addition to the killings, thousands of Tamils have disappeared, Tamil women were sexually assaulted and raped, large numbers of Tamils are imprisoned without trial and abductions are continuing. Tamils are singled out to face these abuses simply and solely on account of their Tamil nationality. Members of the Sri Lankan Security forces are almost exclusively from the Sinhalese community and the victims are all from the Tamil community.

Due to the sheer number of civilian killings by the Sri Lankan Security forces, the UN Human Rights Council passed a resolution on accountability for these crimes and is about to review it in March 2013.

Letter To Speaker On Expropriation Bill And The Chief Justice

By Nihal Sri Ameresekere -December 28, 2012 

Nihal Sri Ameresekere

To:  Hon. Chamal Rajapaksa, M.P.

Speaker of Parliament

AFFIDAVIT

I, NIHAL SRI AMERESEKERE of 167/4, Vipulasena Mawatha, Colombo 10 in the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, being a Buddhist, do hereby solemnly, sincerely and truly affirm and declare as follows:

I place before Your Honour the following facts in the context of the Parliamentary Select Committee having been appointed in terms of Standing Orders of Parliament under Article 107(3) of the Constitution, to investigate into a Resolution for the removal of Hon. (Dr) (Mrs.) Upatissa Atapattu Bandaranayake Wasala Mudiyanse Ralahamilage Shirani Anshumala Bandaranayake, entertained on 1^st November 2012 by Your Honour, as per Article 107(2) of the Constitution, and  placed on the Order Paper of Parliament on 6^th November 2012.

The facts contained herein are also tendered to Your Honour in the context of the Application I made on 18^thOctober 2012 to the Supreme Court in SC (SD) No. 2/2011 of which Your Honour was given notice in terms of the Constitution.

I set out below a chronology of events on my endeavours to have the Special Determination of 24^th October 2011 reviewed and re-examined to bring out the salient facts of relevance.

14.11.2011-     I filed Fundamental Rights Application SC (FR) No. 534/2011 upon coming to know that the Bill generally referred to, as the ‘Expropriation Bill’, had been tabled in Parliament on 8^th November 2011, without being aware that the Bill had already been certified into law by Your Honour on 11^th November 2011.

With my aforesaid Application, I also tendered a Motion, seeking to Support my Application in the course of the ensuing week, attaching a Medical Certificate from the Cardiac Specialist, who has been treating me since 1994, recommending two weeks rest, since I was indisposed, having just returned from Morocco, after attending the Fourth Session of the Conference of State Parties on the UN Convention Against Corruption.

15.11.2011      Upon seeing in the media that other Fundamental Rights Applications on the same Bill had been listed to be Supported on 15^th November 2011, I sent a Letter to the Registrar of the Supreme Court, together with an Officer of my Office, confirming to him my indisposition, and intimating that I had requested my said Officer to be present in Court, to know the date on which my aforesaid Application would be listed for Support.

Notwithstanding the above Motion, Medical Certificate and my said Letter, the Registrar of the Supreme Courttelephoned and informed me, that Chief Justice, Shirani A. Bandaranayake, had directed that my Fundamental Rights Application,  also be listed for Support on the very next day i.e. 15^th November 2011, and he inquired from me, as to whether I could attend the Supreme Court and Support my said Application also on the said day ?

I intimated to him that I had been medically advised to bed rest, and that I had already sent a Medical Certificate, with my Motion, moving to Support my Application in the course of the next week. I requested the Registrar of the Supreme Court to submit my aforesaid Letter and the Medical Certificate to the presiding Judge of the following 5 Judge Bench of the Supreme Court, who were hearing the other Applications.

Justice N.G. Amaratunga,

Justice I. Imam,

Justice R.K.S. Sureshchandra,

Justice Sathya Hettige

Justice Dep, P.C.

All the other Fundamental Rights Applications had been dismissed in-limine on 15^th November 2011 by the said 5 Judge Bench of the Supreme Court, presumably since the said Bill had been certified into law on 11^thNovember 2011 by Your Honour.

The presiding Justice N.G. Amaratunga had announced in Open Court, that a Fundamental Rights Application had also been filed by me, tendering a Medical Certificate, and had directed the Clerk to the Court, to inform my Officer, that I had been permitted to file a Motion and seek a date to Support my aforesaid Fundamental Rights Application.

17.11.2011  -   Accordingly, I filed a Motion seeking to support my Fundamental Rights Application SC (FR) No. 534/2011 on 25^th November 2011.

On that day, I also filed a separate Application in SC (SD) No. 2/2011 seeking a review and re-examination of the Special Determination of 24^th October 2011, in respect of which Chief Justice Shirani A. Bandaranayake had minuted thus –

‘Any party that had wanted to intervene should have done so at the time, it was taken before the Supreme Court’.                                                                                   Read More

Impeachment of CJ: TNA, too, favours prorogation

Calls for new law to handle impeachment proceedings

By Shamindra Ferdinando-December 27, 2012

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) yesterday said that the prorogation of Parliament could be a way out of the simmering dispute between the ruling coalition and an influential section of the judiciary. The prorogation could pave the way for a fresh inquiry into allegations against Chief Justice Dr. Shirani Bandaranayake.

TNA National List MP M.A. Sumanthiran emphasized that a new inquiry would be necessary in the wake of widespread protests against the special Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) which investigated the conduct of Chief Justice Bandaranayake on the basis of some allegations made by a group of 117 members of the UPFA.

The left party alliance comprising ministers D. E. W. Gunasekera, Vasudeva Nanayakkara and Prof. Tissa Vitharana called for the prorogation of Parliament. Their move also received the support of President of the Sri Lanka Bar Association (BASL) Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe,MP Sumanthiran stressed that Opposition members of the 11-member PSC could accept the notification issued by Court of Appeal regardless of the Speaker’s decision to ignore it. Asked whether he was speaking on behalf of TNA leader, R. Sampanthan, who functioned as a member of PSC, MP Sumanthiran said that he was responding to The Island query as an attorney-at-law.

The TNA MP said that that it was very important to know that the Court of Appeal hadn’t issued summons on Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa and members of the PSC. What happened was that the Court of Appeal notified them in respect of the writ application filed by Chief Justice Bandaranayake against the findings of the PSC which found her guilty of misconduct.

Attorney-at-law Sumanthiran stressed that even if all members of the PSC didn’t respond to the Appeal Court notification there wouldn’t be any legal consequences. But it would be much better if they responded to the court notification and state their individual position, the MP said, recommending all parties to the conflict work towards the resolution of the crisis.

The 11-member PSC appointed by Speaker Rajapaksha comprised seven UPFA members (Anura Priyadarshana Yapa, Nimal Siripala de Silva, Susil Premjayanth, Dr. Rajitha Senaratne, Wimal Weerawansa, Dilan Perera and Neomal Perera) and four Opposition members -R. Sampanthan (TNA), John Amaratunga, Lakshman Kiriella (UNP) and Vijitha Herath (JVP).

Commenting on the impeachment motion, MP Sumanthiran said that regardless of the criticism of the investigative process adopted by the government no one could challenge the need to investigate allegations as regards corruption and irregularities against Chief Justice Bandaranayake. ‘No one can say, "Don’t investigate." There shouldn’t be any effort to cover up. The best course of action is to investigate all allegations thoroughly through an independent mechanism,’ MP Sumanthiran said. He faulted the way a section of the PSC had produced its report on a Saturday morning having worked through the night. It was nothing but a joke, the MP alleged emphasizing that it was a mistake on the part of the government to use an apparatus created by the then JRJ administration to impeach Chief Justice Neville Samarakoon knowing well that it was seriously flawed.

MP Sumanthiran recalled how Messrs Dinesh Gunawerdena, the late Anura Bandaranayake and the late Sarath Muththetuwegama had pushed for what they called an authoritarian ruling from the Supreme Court as regards Standing Order 78 A. The then Opposition members wanted to know whether 78 A was consistent with the Constitution, MP Sumanthiran said, adding that the UPFA should seriously consider introducing a new law through an Act of Parliament to spearhead the impeachment process. The Standing Order 78 A, too, should be amended, he said. A new law would be a prerequisite for an independent inquiry.

The attorney-at-law pointed out that Anura Bandaranayake had highlighted the flaws in Standing Order 78 A during the attempt to impeach Chief Justice Sarath Nanda Silva.

UNP MP Karu Jayasuriya, too, said that the prorogation of parliament would give the government an opportunity to rethink and take remedial measures to avert an unprecedented crisis. The former UNP Deputy Leader said that the Chief Justice should be given a chance to defend herself regardless of the circumstances under which the current crisis was caused.

MP Sumanthiran said that the government could also simply drop the CJ issue by not taking it up for debate when Parliament met next.

On Current Mess And The Opposition

By Kath Noble -December 28, 2012

Kath Noble

As I concluded last week, it is the failure of the Opposition that has put Sri Lanka into its current mess. This political system requires competition between the two main parties, since it is only fear of being thrown out of office that limits the behaviour of the Government. When the Opposition is weak, the Government doesn’t take it as an opportunity to solve the long-term problems of the nation, free from the compulsions of electoral politics – it focuses on its own future and how it can further strengthen its grip on power. It becomes dictatorial.

Ranil Wickremasinghe has been defeated so many times that his name must surely be entered in the Guinness Book of Records. People don’t like his policies, and he refuses to change them.

His economic agenda is no more popular than his conflict resolution strategy. Indeed, they are very similar. He wants to hand over responsibility for the well-being of the Sri Lankan people and the resources that belong to them to unelected individuals with a record of exploitation.

My point was that the country seems to be doomed to undergo more spectacles like the impeachment of the Chief Justice, since the Opposition is apparently determined to remain ineffective. Eighteen years in any position should be enough. But the UNP has agreed to give Ranil another six as its leader, guaranteeing his grip on the party until well after the next presidential and parliamentary elections. (Anybody who thinks that Ranil would run the country more democratically than Mahinda Rajapaksa is an idiot.)

One really begins to wonder whether there is anybody in the UNP who is up to the job. Several of its politicians have been agitating for reforms in the party, but their campaign has now been going on for more than half a decade without any results.

And this week offered a look into the thinking of Sajith Premadasa.

Addressing the media on the floods that have afflicted Sri Lanka in recent days, he attacked the Government for its response. The Security Forces had done a good job of rescuing people, he said, but the relief being provided was condemnable. In particular, he questioned the offer of Rs. 5,000 in exchange for ten days of work, which he said amounted to ‘enslaving’ the victims.

Now, I am sure that the affected people could do with rather more than Rs. 5,000. According to the Disaster Management Centre, by Sunday, 35 people had been killed and 22 injured. A total of 44,901 people had been displaced, while 3,136 houses had been destroyed and 7,693 partially damaged. These problems obviously cannot be solved with such a small sum of money, and they are only part of the burden the victims will have to bear – the Disaster Management Centre has not collected data on the impact of the floods on livelihoods. Since the Government regularly wastes a lot more than Rs. 5,000 on totally useless activities, Sajith was right to be critical.

The people of his own district would surely prefer a bit more assistance to a Rs. 4 billion cricket stadium, for instance!

If that amount had been divided among the 66,299 families reported to have been affected by the floods, they would have each received a little over Rs. 60,000.

This is an important argument, but it is not the point that Sajith was making. He was concerned not so much with the amount as with the way in which it is to be provided – in exchange for labour. Apparently, even if the Government gives Rs. 60,000, it must be a gift.

Of course gifts are very nice. But they limit the amount that people can be given.

If the victims each need Rs. 1 million, it would require a genuinely impossible allocation, taking up the budgets of several ministries.

The idea of offering employment in exchange for assistance has already been used to good effect in this year’s drought, with farmers who couldn’t cultivate their fields due to lack of water being paid to rehabilitate local tanks instead.

The Government claims to have spent almost Rs. 5 billion for this purpose. The advantage is that instead of being cast as victims, unable to do anything to help themselves, the affected people were involved in productive work that should contribute to avoiding a repetition of the drought, or at least to reducing its severity.

Farmers will benefit from their own work, and so will the country.

We should remember that natural disasters are becoming ever more frequent. Climate change is a reality, and Sri Lanka is now facing drought and floods on a regular basis.

It is important to be prepared, and I believe that the Disaster Management Centre has done some work in that direction. But the Government should also have a clear and consistent policy on the assistance that it is going to offer to people affected by natural disasters – their fate shouldn’t be decided according to the whims of politicians.

Of course, the Government doesn’t like to guarantee anything.

In lieu of such a promise, it has started to push insurance schemes.

Mahinda Rajapaksa announced in the budget speech that farmers who receive chemical fertiliser from the Government at a subsidised rate will now have to pay Rs. 150 per 50 kilo bag towards crop insurance. No doubt the motivation behind this move is not what is best for farmers but how to reduce the cost of the fertiliser subsidy, on which the Government spends more than Rs. 30 billion. Instead of providing bags at Rs. 350, they will be given for Rs. 500. This is not very honest, but perhaps one should not complain too much since the fertiliser subsidy is clearly not the best way to support farmers. (In addition to the now widely accepted impact on the environment, and hence on our health and the economy as a whole, the fertiliser subsidy is totally inefficient. To cultivate one acre, farmers use three bags of chemical fertiliser. These are sold to them for Rs. 350, when the market rate is Rs. 6,500. For the amount that the Government thus has to hand over to the manufacturers to support a single individual – nearly Rs. 20,000 – it could have bought them an indigenous cow! And such an animal would have fertilised as many as 30 acres for several years, without any of the disadvantages of chemical fertiliser. Why is it not done? Because the fertiliser companies are enthusiastic sponsors of a whole range of activities of both officials and academics.)

The problem with ulterior motives is that things don’t generally work out as we expect. One would have to see how easy it is to make a claim, since it is well known that the other major intervention in agricultural markets – purchasing at a minimum price –is largely ineffective, with the Government purposely making it difficult for farmers to take advantage.

Better than insurance schemes, or at least as well as them, would be a guarantee of work in exchange for a minimum income.

My advocacy of this idea is inspired by the experience of India’s National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, passed in 2005, which guarantees 15 days of employment at the minimum wage to Indians living in rural areas willing to do manual labour. Despite being plagued by corruption, as most things are in India, it has made a vital contribution to the development of the country.

The situation in rural areas in Sri Lanka is nowhere near as difficult as in India, except perhaps in the former conflict areas, but the country could still think of such a scheme islandwide.

Alternatively, this could also work as a Disaster Recovery Scheme.

It would be the opposite of enslavement, since it would confer on the Sri Lankan people a new right that they do not as yet enjoy, without imposing on them any new duties.

And that is bound to be popular.

Sajith Premadasa had better give it some more thought.

Of course Ranil Wickremasinghe cannot be expected to approve. His neoliberal handbook says that it is only a matter of time before we are all as rich as he, so long as the Government doesn’t try to help the process along.

He must love being in the Opposition!

*Kath Noble’s column may be accessed online at http://kathnoble.wordpress.com/. She may be contacted atkathnoble99@gmail.com.

Why People Oppose The Undermining Of The Judiciary

By Basil Fernando -December 28, 2012                  

Basil Fernando

“The court system is skewed against ordinary folk,” says Malinda Seneviratne, writing a comment on my last article. His argument is that the people will not defend the courts as the court system is skewed against the people. However, people do have a reason to defend even the highly inadequate and problem ridden justice system as it stands now, rather than having a system that is totally controlled by the executive.

During the last twenty years, I have written almost daily about the defects of the existing judicial system in Sri Lanka and repeatedly demonstrated that the system is mostly dysfunctional. I have also reported on literally thousands of cases of torture and ill-treatment to demonstrate how deeply flawed our system of justice is. Such argument was made not for the purpose of having the system abolished, but rather to have it improved. What the people demand is an improved system which fearlessly defends the people against the powerful forces and against the authoritarian assaults to their dignity and their liberties. Why the system has been defective is due to very many reasons, but the most important reason is heavy interference of the government against the independent functioning of the system.

This may be illustrated by one of the cases we have supported. This is the case of the torture and the murder of Gerald Perera. After his arrest on a mistaken identity, he was severely assaulted, which caused kidney failure. On the basis of his complaint, two cases were filed against the police officers who tortured him. In the fundamental rights case, the Supreme Court held that the police have in fact tortured him and violated his fundamental rights. The Supreme Court awarded the highest compensation to date, both for medical expenses in a private hospital and as compensation for injuries.

The Attorney General thereafter filed a criminal case against the police officers under CAT Act No. 22 of 1994. A week before Gerald Perera was to give evidence at the Negombo High Court, he was shot dead on a public bus. The first accused in a torture case and another person were indicted by the Attorney General’s Department for the murder of Gerald Perera and this case is still pending before the Negombo High Court.

In the criminal case for torture, the Negombo High Court made its judgment after several years and acquitted all the six police officers, despite its finding that these officers arrested Gerald and that torture had taken place inside the police station. This verdict of the court was challenged by way of an appeal and the Court of Appeal gave its verdict on October 2012, altogether ten years after the incident, holding that the High Court judge has erred in acquitting four of the accused as there was adequate evidence against them for conviction. The Court of Appeal ordered retrial. Now these officers have filed an appeal in the Supreme Court against the Appeal Court verdict.

Looking from any reasonable point of view, it is obvious that the torture, murder and prolonged and undue delay are serious defects of the justice system. There is enough data gathered through this case to criticize very many fundamental flaws in the system.

In almost every other case, in the more than thousand cases we have reported, similar and even more glaring problems can be pointed out.

However, does that call for the annihilation of the system? That is what the executive controlled system means. That is not what the widow of Gerald Perera and all who supported him are demanding. They demand a more efficient system of justice.

The contrast can be explained by way of examples from countries where the court system is under the control of the executive.

Cambodia                         Read More