The Minority Conundrum

by Tisaranee Gunasekara-Sunday, September 8, 2013

“In other countries who (sic) are successful, they were successful because immediately one person he takes the decisions. In Sri Lanka, the main problem is that that is not there, more decisions have to be centralized”

- Basil Rajapaksa (Sydney Morning Herald – 19.11.2012)

The Minority Conundrum by nelvely

Provincial Council Election -2013 Guidelines To Police Officers By The Human Rights Commission Of Sri Lanka

September 6, 2013

The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, recognizing the right of every citizen to vote, to freely engage in political activities and the right to free and fair elections under the Constitution of Sri Lanka (1978) and international human rights norms, adopted the following guidelines to be observed by all police officers during the run-up to the election, on the day of the election and the period immediately after the election:

(a) Complaints regarding pre-election, Election Day and post-election violence shall be accepted and investigated in terms of Article 12 of the Constitution, which declares that “all persons are equal before the law and are entitled to the equal protection of the law”. The police will be held liable for violation of fundamental rights for any inaction or omission with regard to entertaining such complaints.

(b) Investigation regarding complaints shall be conducted in a strictly impartial manner. Inaction due to political influences or any other unacceptable reason will amount to a breach of Article 12 of the Constitution.

(c) The law which relates to election propaganda shall be applied equally. All political parties and groups shall be treated equally according to Article 12(2) of the Constitution, which declares “No citizen shall be discriminated against on the grounds of race, religion, language, cast sex, political opinion, and place of birth or any one of such grounds. Any unequal treatment or discrimination, especially on political opinion, will be an express violation of Article 12 of the Constitution.

(d) Issuing permits to use loudspeakers and for election meeting shall be in accordance to the law, especially in terms of section 68(2) of the Parliamentary Elections Act No. 1 of 1981. The non-fulfilment of this obligation will result in violation of Article 12 of the Constitution.

(e) Parades during the election period shall be permitted according to the law. Issuing permits for parades shall be according to Articles 12 and 14. Article 14(1) guarantees, among others, freedom of speech, assembly, association, occupation and of movement.

(f) Display of leaflets, posters, and photographs of the candidates, symbols, flags and banners shall be permitted according to election laws. If any party or a group is given privileged treatment, it will be a violation of Article 12 of the Constitution.

(g) The Police shall strictly enforce the law with regard to persons who violate the right of others to vote. If this were not implemented, it would be a violation of Articles 12 and 14 (1) of the Constitution.

(h) Police officers shall provide adequate security to polling centres and other related places and make every effort to facilitate the conduct of a free and fair election in accordance with the law of the land.

(i) The law shall be equally enforced against political parties or persons irrespective of their status or powers when the breach election laws.  Thus it shall be the duty of the police officers to enforce the law strictly against all persons who misuse or cause damage to public property, eg., government vehicles, buildings and premises.

(j) Police have a responsibility to prevent election related violence including post-election violence.  According to past experience, political power is used to commit such acts of violence, which result in violation of fundamental rights.  Police shall take all responsible steps according to procedures established by the law to prevent violation of fundamental rights.

(k) The police shall not participate any type of violence against persons or property, including subjecting persons to torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment, on their own initiative or at the behest of any other party.

Apart from the above issuing of the said guidelines, the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka wishes to have a special meeting scheduled to be held on 11^th September 2013 at 10.30 a.m. with the relevant state authorities such as Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Law and Order, Ministry of Public Administration and Home Affairs, District Secretaries, District Assistant Commissioners of Elections, Senior Deputy Inspector Generals of Police of Central, Northern and North Western Provinces to discuss the importance of the rights to engage in political activities and the right to free and fair elections under the Constitution of Sri Lanka and the role of state responsibility. The Human Rights Commission will be monitoring the developments of the proceedings thereafter.

Mysterious death amidst increasing reports on torture in SL prisons

Francis Nelson with wife and son, photographed in 2006

[TamilNet, Saturday, 07 September 2013, 23:49 GMT]
52-year-old Francis Nelson, a father of one, from Karunaadduk-kea'ni in Kokkuth-thoduvaay in Mullaiththeevu, died in Sri Lankan custody at Kalutara prison on September 02. His wife, a Sinhalese, who has been living in Vanni with the parents of Nelson, has alleged that her husband's death was caused by continuous and systematic torture at the prison. Nelson had managed to phone his wife on September 01 and the news of his death the following day was a shocking news to the family, news sources in Vanni said. The mysterious death of the Tamil prisoner comes amidst increasing complaints of routine torture at the prisons in the South. 

In the meantime, Tamil politicians and journalists who have been talking to Tamil prisoners over the phone have been subjected to interrogations by the Terrorist Investigation Department operatives. 

The dead body of the victim was handed over to the family for funeral on 04 September. 

Francis Nelson had been tortured for a long time in the prison, according to her wife. 

Nelson, a strong supporter of the LTTE, was reported abducted and missing since 2006 when he had gone to Colombo. 

His whereabouts had not been known for a long time till he was located at Kalutara prision after the end of Vanni war, news sources in Mullaiththeevu said. 

Funeral of Francis Nelson was held on September 04 in a temporary hut at Karunaadduk-kea'ni, where his family has resettled without basic facilities. 

Focus on Northern PC poll: Foreign election observers here this week

By Franklin R. Satyapalan-September 7, 2013

Most of 29 foreign pre-polls observers expected to arrive in Sri Lanka by the end of this week will focus on monitoring the final stages of Provincial Council (PC) election campaigning in the Northern Province, officials said yesterday.

As elections to the Northern PC are being conducted after a spell of almost 25 years, it has drawn the attention of the international community. Hence, the focused interest of pre-polls observers to monitor the happenings, they said.

The Executive Director of PAFFREL, Rohana Hettiarachchi said that at their invitation, a delegation of foreign observers from the Thai-based Asian Network For Free and Fair Elections (ANFFFE) are expected to arrive in the country by Friday.

On the invitation of the Commissioner of Elections, Mahinda Deshapriya the Commonwealth Secretariat had agreed to send a delegation to Sri Lanka this week, but the exact number of monitors is still not known, Elections Secretariat sources said.

A delegation of twenty pre-poll observers from SAARC countries comprising five from India, Pakistan (3), Bangladesh (2), Maldives (2), Bhutan (2), Nepal and Afghanistan (4) are also due in Sri Lanka, the sources said.

Hettiarachchi said that most of the delegates have experience in monitoring foreign elections. They will represent Thailand, Bangladesh, Philippines, Nepal, Japan, Indonesia and Taiwan. "In addition, we had made arrangements to bring down nine foreign pre-poll observers and also deploy 5,000 local observers. We will deploy 800 of them in 200 mobile vehicles".

The Executive Director of CMEV, Dr. Pakiasothy Saravanamuttu said that they expected to center their local observers to monitor politically sensitive and areas vulnerable to malpractices around the Northern Province.

"We are deploying 20 local observers to monitor the situation during the campaign to the run up to the September 21 elections and on the day of the polls, we have planned to deploy 50 experienced monitors as well as several mobile observers to monitor on camera polling stations vulnerable to violence or rigging ".

The Executive Director of CAFFE, Keerthi Tennakoon said that they would refrain from bringing down any foreign observers to monitor the PC polls and are in the process of provided enhanced training to 2,700 local monitors.

Uku Finally Responds: Sharma Did Not Meet GL

September 8, 2013 |

Commonwealth Spokesman Richard Uku in his first ever response to a series of articles about the Commonwealth Secretariat in the Colombo Telegraph, says that contrary to our report After Pillay: Sharma to do Damage Control for Lanka, Secretary General Kamalesh Sharma did not meet with External Affairs Minister G.L. Peiris during his visit to London last week.

Sharma and Uku

“The Secretary-General was in fact in South Africa attending the Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference for the entire duration of Minister Peiris’s recent visit to the United Kingdom. The two, therefore did not meet,” Uku said in an emailed response to the Colombo Telegraph.

Uku added that Sharma had not advised the Government to reverse judicial orders regarding the impeachment of “the former Chief Justice”. “Nor would he,” the Spokesman said.

“That the Secretary-General said anything on the subject is completely  false,” he said. “The separation of powers between the branches of government is a fundamental Commonwealth value. This is clear from the Secretary-General’s earlier public statement.   It is inconceivable that any Commonwealth Secretary-General would offer such advice,” the Spokesman wrote.

He added that the Commonwealth Secretary-General has publicly welcomed recognition in Sri Lanka of the need for change following the removal of the former Chief Justice. He has since made available to the government an expert analysis of the practice in all Commonwealth countries relating to the appointment and removal of senior judicial figures, and has offered further Commonwealth assistance, Uku concluded.

Editor’s Note: With reference to the story Richard Uku has responded to, Colombo Telegraph maintains that the article was based on Human Rights Commissioner of Sri Lanka, Prathibha Mahanama’s discussions with a group of lawyers and government officials. These sources reiterate that Secretary General has undertaken to give the Government support to mitigate the effects of Navi Pillay’s closing statement following her visit to Sri Lanka and her oral country report due later this month. Colombo Telegraph is at present unable to obtain information about what kind of expert assistance and analysis of the practice in the Commonwealth countries relating to the appointment and removal of senior judicial figures the Secretariat hopes to grant Sri Lanka.  What is available in the public domain is only the suppression of the expert opinions already obtained by the SG from the CMAG.  Colombo Telegraph will divulge more information about the meetings and conversations between the Secretary General and the Sri Lankan Minister and authorities as soon as it becomes available. Read More

Pillay to make damning statement

By Dilrukshi Handunnetti-Monday, 09 Sep 2013

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navanethem Pillay, is expected to highlight the possibility of reprisals and attacks on human rights defenders, journalists and communities she met up with during her recent visit to Sri Lanka, when she makes the opening statement at the 24th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva, tomorrow (9).

Pillay is likely to laud the government for allowing her the opportunity of assessing the ongoing reconstruction and reconciliation processes post-war, and making references to the broader human rights situation in the country.

The statement is her first official statement to the UN, subsequent to her visit to Sri Lanka and the nearly 4,000-word draft is in the form of a summary statement referring to the human rights status in 20 countries, including Sri Lanka.

The draft statement's two paragraphs of specific observations on Sri Lanka read: "I am grateful to the Government of Sri Lanka for facilitating my recent comprehensive visit, which allowed me to assess the progress being made towards reconstruction, reconciliation and accountability in the aftermath of the war – as well as the broader human rights situation, including religious intolerance, governance and the rule of law. I will be reporting on my observations later in the session, but wish to stress my immediate concern for the protection of human rights defenders, journalists and communities I met during my visit from any reprisal, intimidation or attack I met during my visit from any reprisal, intimidation or attack.

"The Secretary-General's report on cooperation with the United Nations, its representatives and mechanisms in the field of human rights is before the Council at this session. It refers to cases of alleged reprisals, or intimidation, against persons as a result of such cooperation, from 16 June 2012 to 15 June 2013." Meanwhile, the Ministry of External Affairs stated no Sri Lankan representatives will be taking part in the Geneva sessions commencing Monday.

Rodney Perera, Media Spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs, said, only Sri Lankans attached to the UN office in Geneva will be present as "it is not a meeting of such significance to send a ministerial delegation from Colombo." The 24th session of the UNHRC will continue till 27 September.

Expose: Full Text Of Sharma’s Buried Report: Impeachment Violated C’wealth Principles, Sowed Seeds Of Anarchy

September 9, 2013 |

At least one eminent Commonwealth Jurist, whose opinion was sought by the Commonwealth Secretariat on President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s removal of Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake has found that her impeachment was flawed and a direct violation of Commonwealth Values.

On August 15, Colombo Telegraph exclusively revealed that the Commonwealth Secretary General Kamalesh Sharma who had commissioned two key legal opinions from eminent Commonwealth Jurists on the Sri Lankan Government’s impeachment of its Chief Justice, Shirani Bandaranayake had decided to withhold the findings of those reports from the rest of the organisation.

Justice P.N. Langa, former Chief Justice of South Africa

Sharma refused to disclose the findings, even to the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group, the Commonwealth’s organ to measure state compliance with the organisation’s core values and principles. Queried on the topic by the Canadian High Commission in UK, Sharma responded that some matters were ‘privileged’ communications to his office.

Today, Colombo Telegraph can once again exclusively reveal to our readers one of the legal opinions sought and then allegedly buried the Secretary General’s Office. Justice P.N. Langa, former Chief Justice of South Africa and respected jurist, concludes that the Rajapaksa Government’s decision to disregard the Supreme Court Ruling on the impeachment of Chief Justice Bandaranayake was unconstitutional and said it was “sowing the seeds of anarchy.”

Justice Langa, who later passed away, issued his opinion on the matter in a memorandum to the Commonwealth Secretary General Kamalesh Sharma, dated March 5, 2013.

Langa concludes in his memo that the disregarding of the Supreme Court ruling on the so called impeachment of Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake was unconstitutional, a direct violation of the Commonwealth Values and Principles and a serious violation of the Doctrine of Separation of Powers.

The late Jurist also concludes that the appointment of a de facto Chief Justice (Mohan Pieris) to replace Bandaranayake was both unconstitutional and unlawful, since the incumbent Chief Justice was not validly removed.

Langa’s two key findings, having studied the report based on the terms of reference provided to him by the Secretariat, was as follows:Read More

Prabha may have become CM, says SF

Sep 8, 2013 

If Prabhakaran had surrendered, he would have been with the Rajapaksa family now and also have become Chief Minister, Former Army Commander and General Secretary of the New Democratic Party Sarath Fonseka said in Jaffna on Saturday.

“During the war no (LTTE) Senior Leaders surrendered, but those such as KP and Daya Master in particular, who surrendered are now with the family of President Rajapaksa.”

He charged that the present Jaffna Commander Mahinda Hathurusinghe was helping the government.

“Keeping about four to five soldiers as handymen, he has been carrying out propaganda in support of independent candidates, who are contesting on behalf of the government,” he said.

“He is also getting the posters of anti-government candidates removed. Due to such dishonest Army commanders, proper duties cannot be fulfilled, while about 95% of the Army personnel are honest, the rest are used by the government in its nefarious activities,” he charged. (S. K. Prasath, Sumithi Thangarasa)

Dictators and other rulers

by Rukshana Nanayakkara-Monday, 09 Sep 2013

There is a great rush to prove that we are not a dictatorship. Navi Pillay’s statement has hurt the government’s farce values adhered to in our governance, even though we did not hear what we wanted to hear from the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. The President is denouncing Pillay’s authoritarianism assertions and is loudly counter asserting that we hold elections, regularly. Since 2005 we have had 11 elections in the country. A dictator is someone, who does not hold elections and works for his own interest. This claim of the President warrants a reflection as to what makes dictatorial governance as opposed to a functioning democracy. Let’s analyze what makes a dictator.     

Dictators and Other Rulers by nelvely

Sri Lanka And Maritime Security

By R Hariharan - September 9, 2013 |

Col. (retd) R.Hariharan

India, Sri Lanka and the Maldives signed a landmark agreement on July 8, 2013 on coordinated handling of maritime security threats such as piracy, gunrunning and terrorism and presumably human trafficking in the Indian Ocean. The three nations also agreed to share capacities and information related to these threats and to pursue sustainable development of maritime environment. The agreement represents the culmination of a process that started with the first Trilateral Cooperation on Maritime Security meeting that started in 2011 and continued during the last two years.

Although the agreement is a big step forward in improving the national security of all the three Indian Ocean powers, they need to take coordinated action to take advantage of it. However,three factors could stymie such progress such as aberrations of unequal power equations, influence of external powers, and  political compulsions due to internal and external issues.  The agreement is of special strategic significance to Sri Lanka due to its unique geographical location astride the Indian Ocean. It dominates the sea lanes of Indian Ocean, midway between the Gulf of Aden and the Straits of Malacca, and acts as a natural vanguard for India’s peninsular and maritime security.

As Vice Admiral R. K. Dhawan, Vice Chief of Naval Staff of the Indian Navy, pointed out in the Galle Dialogue 2012, Indian Ocean has become the ‘economic highway’ of the world today, with 66% of oil shipments so vital for India, Japan and China three major countries of Asia, 33% of bulk cargo and 50% of the world’s container traffic passing through its waters. “We see the role of the Indian Navy as a major stabilizing force in this great movement of energy across the Indian Ocean, as India is cognizant of the need for security in the ‘global commons,” he underlined the vital role played by India in Indian Ocean security. Conscious of the importance of maintaining security of this vital region, it is not surprising that India, Sri Lanka and Maldives are striving to build a win-win relationship.Read More

Pillay To Fire, Geneva Mission To Respond 

By Easwaran Rutnam-Sunday, September 08, 2013

While the dust settles on what has now become a controversial visit to Sri Lanka by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay, the government is preparing to take her head on at the UN Human Rights Council which will be meeting for its 24th session in Geneva tomorrow.

Pillay will be making an oral statement on Sri Lanka to the Council on September 25 on the implementation of resolution 22/1 on promoting reconciliation and accountability in Sri Lanka.

Pillay To Fire, Geneva Mission To Respond by nelvely

The Story Of An Alternative Manifesto

By Mahesan Niranjan -September 9, 2013 

Prof Mahesan Niranjan

We can feel the hot air. I don’t mean the 

extended summer heat wave in the United Kingdom, but the political air is heating up as the elections to the Northern Provincial Council in Sri Lanka approaches. The main political party, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) caused much excitement among analysts by successfully inviting former justice Wigneswaran (hereinafter referred to by the pet name Wiggles) to be their lead candidate. There was hot air during the run-up to his nomination. “Wiggles is from Colombo, he only knows the Nallur temple in Jaffna. The alternative candidate Maavai Senathirajah knows all nooks and corners in Jaffna, so Maavai should be the candidate,” argued some. A friend of mine had an amazing response to this: “My cousin is a bus driver in Jaffna and knows every corner of Jaffna better than anyone else. He should be the candidate for the Chief-Minister post, no?”Read More

JVP disappointed over delay

Monday, 09 Sep 2013

The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), said they are losing confidence in the legal process, in view of the manner in which the proceedings of the Matale mass grave issue is being conducted in Court, and alleged the legal system is dragging its feet in meting out justice to the hundreds of nameless victims whose skeletal remains were found in the mass grave.Former Provincial Council member of the JVP, Gamagedera Dissanayake, said the JVP is disappointed in the delay in delivering justice to the victims.

He said: “The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has ignored the directions given by the former Matale Magistrate, Chaturika de silva. Thereafter, she was    transferred, and the new Magistrate, Sampath Gamage,   has postponed hearing the case on two occasions.”

Dissanayake said the CID had not published an advertisement as directed by the Court, calling on the public to come forward and make claims if any,  regarding their family member/s who had gone missing during that period, nor had the CID sent the samples of the skeletons overseas to conducts tests on the same, as instructed by Magistrate de Silva.
“If no justice is meted out through the legal system, we will have to explore other avenues,” he said.

The CID however, had said it is holding back the said advertisement because the Attorney General (AG) had directed that they advertise, once they are informed, as to which period the skeletons belong to, and which information they are yet to receive from overseas.

UK ‘development’ means building genocidal State against Tamils

[TamilNet, Sunday, 08 September 2013, 08:41 GMT]
The UK and Scottish governments have been training more than 3,500 Sri Lankan police officers, including some senior commanders, since 2007, Herald Scotland reported Sunday. Reporting the findings by Corporate Watch, a non-profit research group, the paper cited several human rights campaigners as questioning the Scottish involvement with the Sri Lankan police. The training by Scottish police officers has also taken place when the notorious Special Task Force (STF), a full-fledged military outfit under the SL Police, was directly engaged in acts of genocide in the East as well as in Vanni. The ‘development’ ministry of UK (DFID) has been backing the project and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has defended the project and denied it was developing a police state. 

SL Police run Special Task Force (STF) commandos under the genocidal war on Tamils [Photo courtesy: police.lk]

After the war: SL Police in Jaffna deployed in attacking Tamil student's peaceful protest in November 2012 [Library Photo]

The Scottish watchdog has also revealed that SPC was receiving £236,042 from April 2007 to March 2013 for work in Sri Lanka via the Conflict Pool fund, a 'peace fund' administered by three Whitehall bodies including the Department for International Development.

The Corporate Watch in its report has cited a report by Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) revealing that the British diplomats had anticipated the police training project may cause “some reputational or political risk”, but told the SPC that any criticism could “be mitigated effectively” by ensuring their “public communications on the project underline the positive human rights impacts of our assistance”. 

“Inauspiciously, when Scottish police experts arrived in Sri Lanka for their “initial scoping work” in November last year, riot police carried out a crack down on Tamil student protestors at Jaffna University,” the Corporate Watch said in its report.

“If the country is going in a more authoritarian direction and Scottish police have been helping train the Sri Lankan police for the past six years, are they just helping to develop the police state? Do they have any concerns that this project isn't working?” Phil Miller from Corporate Watch was quoted by Herald Scotland as saying. 

• Press statement by Corporate Watch

Herald Scotland also quoted Mark Bevan, programme director for Amnesty International in Scotland, as saying: “Unlawful detentions, torture, and enforced disappearances remain rife in Sri Lanka and go unpunished. It's shocking to think similar activity may have taken place while Scottish Police College training work and Scottish police officers were in the country.”

Currently, there are more than 8,000 STF personnel attached to 69 camps, most of them situated in the occupied country of Eezham Tamils in the North and East of the island. 

The STF, a full-fledged military organized under the SL Police Department, is deployed in assisting the ongoing structural genocide in the East. It is directly involved in seizing Tamil lands under instructions from the Sri Lankan Defence Ministry in Colombo.

In addition to the STF, the predominantly Sinhala SL Police in the occupied country of Eezham Tamils, functions as an extended arm of the SL military. 

STF's Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Jayaweera was in charge of STF troops in Vanni deployed in the genocidal onslaught under the leadership of Senior DIG/STF Mahinda Balasuriya. 

SSP R.W.M.C. Ranawana headed the STF commandos in a series of military operations titled ‘Niyathai Jeya’ in Batticaloa-Ampaa'rai, according to STF's own website. 

“In order to curb terrorism in Sri Lanka, STF gave valuable military assistance to the Sri Lanka Army from the time of the Mavil aru Humanitarian Operation up to the end of the war,” claims the SL Police website adding that DIG/STF Nimal Lewke, who led the STF till March 2008, gave training to STF according to ‘international standards’. 

The website also states that 462 STF personnel were killed and 792 were disabled following injuries in the war since the inception of the STF.

Government Denials Will Not Make Problems Posed By Navi Pillay Go Away

By Jehan Perera -September 8, 2013 |

Jehan Perera

The government has rejected the public statement issued by the UN Human Rights Commissioner, Navanethem Pillay on her departure.  This rejection has been accompanied by a demonstration of anger.  This is evident in the statements issued by responsible government ministers.  The President is reported to have reacted angrily to the UN statement. Sri Lanka’s External Affairs Minister Prof G L Peiris, whose intellectual powers are second to none in the world, made a point by point rebuttal of Ms Pillay’s conclusions at a media briefing in London. He had said that “the report she had produced was indicative of a prejudiced mind and in no way showed the fairness and open mindedness of an official undertaking such a mission.”

It is said that we often do not see ourselves the way that others see us.  Minister Peiris’s statement indicates that the government is in strong disagreement with the UN Human Rights Commissioner’s conclusion that the government is heading in an authoritarian direction in the aftermath of the war.  Indeed, the elimination of the LTTE as an armed opposition offered the country a great opportunity to restore democratic governance.  However, with the passing of the 18th Amendment to the Constitution, which even some government members criticized, the country has clearly taken a decision in favour of a radical centralization of power.  The acute, if not excessive, centralization of power in the hands of the President, his family members and a few close associates is no secret.

That the government is heading in an authoritarian direction is an opinion that is held by the main opposition parties, civil and religious society and even by sections within the government itself who speak privately about their misgivings.  On the other hand, Prof Peiris has chosen legitimately to focus on the large number of elections that the government has chosen to have in recent times.  Not only has the government held many elections at local and provincial levels, it has been successful in winning them too in elections that have been reasonably free and fair by third world standards.  Unlike in countries such as Zimbabwe, the government has not used violence to stuff the ballot boxes or to frighten voters away from the polling stations.Read More

A Challenge That Needs To Be Taken Up Jointly 

By Jehan Perera

Navi Pillay noted that the alleged intimidation of those who met her in the North and East is, “Utterly unacceptable”

Sunday, September 08, 2013

The visit of the UN Human Rights Commissioner to Sri Lanka Navanethem Pillay has renewed international interest on important issues that haunt the Tamil community and, 

A Challenge That Needs To Be Taken Up Jointly by nelvely

Revealed: How Scottish Police Trained Sri Lankan Cops Linked To Human Rights Abuse

September 8, 2013 

Scottish Police College overseeing police recruitment in Sri Lanka, a country that UN human rights chief warns “is heading in an increasingly authoritarian direction”, an investigation by Corporate Watch has found. UK aid money also paid for Sri Lanka’s top cop to train in Scotland before final war against Tamil Tigers.

The Scottish Police College is deeply involved in creating Sri Lanka’s new National Police Academy. All Sri Lankan police recruits will follow a “contemporary and dynamic curriculum” being designed with the Scottish Police College (SPC). In addition, “training for thousands of existing partly trained officers will be prioritised based on the newly developed curriculum”. Scottish officers will coach Sri Lankan police trainers, “to ensure they are capable of delivering each of the re-designed programmes”. The scheme started in November 2012, but its full extent has only just come to light through a Freedom of Information request to the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), who handed over the project’s blueprint to Corporate Watch. The project is funded by Britain’s Conflict Prevention Pool, a ‘peace fund’ administered by three Whitehall bodies including the Department for International Development (DFID).

This revelation comes a week after the UN’s most senior human rights official, Navi Pillay, finished her inspection of Sri Lanka. Last weekend, Pillay said she was “deeply concerned” that Sri Lanka “is showing signs of heading in an increasingly authoritarian direction”, warning that “democracy has been undermined”. Pillay slammed the police for their “harassment and intimidation of a number of human rights defenders”, including priests and journalists, who were scheduled to meet the UN official. Human Rights Watch accuse Sri Lanka’s police of widespread rape in custody. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) have defended the project and denied it was developing a police state. An FCO spokesperson told Corporate Watch that “British Government-supported justice and security projects have safeguards in place that seek to ensure our work does not contribute to human rights abuses. On the contrary, our police training reform project in Sri Lanka, led by the Scottish Police College (SPC), aims to embed international standards in police training”. The SPC said its advice to the Sri Lankan police includes human rights and “public relations” training.                 Read More

The Info Navi Pillay Was Fed With

By C. A. Chandraprema -September 8, 2013 

C.A.Chandraprema

One of the delegations of local NGOs that presented a memorandum to Navi Pillay during her visit, was the Alliance of Media Organisations made up of the Free Media Movement, the Sri Lanka Working Journalists Association, the Federation of Media Employees Trade Union, the Sri Lanka Tamil Media Alliance, the Sri Lanka Muslim Media Forum, the South Asian Free Media Association – Sri Lanka Chapter, and the Media Movement for Democracy. In this memorandum, reference was made to the attacks on the Sirasa TV station, the Sunday Leader Press, the Siyatha TV station, the killing of Lasantha Wickremetunga, and the assaults on Media persons like Poddala Jayantha, Namal Perera, and other such incidents which are well known and will not be disputed by anybody. However, the memorandum presented to Pillay by the alliance of media NGOs also had the following statements which struck this writer as needing further investigation viz:

“Since 1981, 114 persons have been killed due to the exercise of freedom of expression, including journalists and media workers.”

“34 Journalists have been documented as killed between 2005 till to date…”

“Over 50 journalists, including prominent and well known press freedom activists, have gone into exile since 2009.”

We as journalists know that D.Sivaram, Lasantha Wickremetunga and Sampath de Silva, a freelancer attached to the Lakbima, were killed between 2004 and now, but who were all the others mentioned by the media NGOs? Then we know that Uvindu Kurukulasuriya (Colombo Telegraph) , Sandaruwan Senadhira (Lanka e News) and media activist Sunanda Deshapriya have gone into self exile but who are all the others? The numbers mentioned are large – 114 killed since 1981, 34 since 2005 alone and no less than 50 in self exile!  Last week, this writer phoned media activist Sunil Jayasekera of the FMM and asked for the lists of media personnel who had been killed and had gone into self exile.  A book written by Seetha Ranjanee a media activist, about the 114 media persons killed since 1981 was given to me.                  Read More