Aftermath Of CHOGM 2013: Will There Be Justice For The victims?

By G.K. Nathan -November 26, 2013 |

Dr. G. K. Nathan

There were worldwide calls from International human right organizations, human right activists, a large number of media and Tamil diaspora to boycott Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Sri Lanka. The boycott call was in response to the failure of President Rajapaksa to take action for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity that occurred under his regime. The Rajapaksa regime is continuing to ignore the need for accountability even after repeated calls, also failed to implement all the United Nation Human Rights Council (UNHRC) resolutions passed at the 19^thsession in March 2012 and 22^nd session in March 2013. President Rajapaksa succeeded in his second attempt to hold CHOGM in Sri Lanka, after three decades long armed conflict ended four years ago in May 2009; the expectation to attend to alleged charges was not met by Sri Lanka. Late attempt to change the CHOGM venue was also not successful; three countries Canada, India and Mauritius decided to boycott the CHOGM in Sri Lanka. Of the 53 members of CHOGM, only 24 Heads of government attended, the UK Prime Minister, David Cameron attended CHOGM, against opposition from various quarters in the country; but said that he will “shine a spotlight on the situation in Sri Lanka”.  He said “No Fire Zone” a recent documentary on war crimes and crimes against humanity that had occurred during the last stages of the conflict has had an impact. True to his words he stood in ‘the lion’s den’ and publicly forewarned that failure in the next four months to positively respond to the call and conduct an independent investigation in Sri Lanka, the UK as a member of the UNHRC will put forward a proposal for an Independent International Inquiry at the 25^th session of UNHRC in March 2014. The same message was conveyed to the President Rajapaksa when Prime Minister David Cameron, privately met the President.  The President’s reaction at a media interview at CHOGM was, “it is an internal matter and it is nobody’s business” and as well as “people living in glass houses should not throw stones”.

Prime Minster David Cameron visit to North and the Outcome               Read More  

A resolution on Safety of journalists and the issue of impunity is to be voted by the 3rd Committee of UN on 26 Nov 2013

A resolution on Safety of journalists and the issue of impunity is to be voted by the 3rd Committee of UN on 26 Nov 2013

Monday, November 25, 2013

Just days following the International Day to End Impunity, a draft resolution on the Safety of journalists and the issue of impunity, now cosponsored by over 60 states, will be voted on by the Third Committee tomorrow and then hopefully go before the plenary of the UN General Assembly in New York early next month.   Of particular interest is the resolution’s call to make the International Day to End Impunity an official UN day to be commemorated on 2 November. 

A Resolution on Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity is to Be Voted by the 3rd Committee of UN o... by nelvely

Australia: Prime Minister Should Retract Torture Remarks

NOVEMBER 25, 2013

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Joint letter on Australia’s commitment to the absolute prohibition against torture

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• Joint letter on Australia’s commitment to the absolute prohibition against torture
  NOVEMBER 25, 2013 
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“Torture is always illegal and immoral, and there is no exception for ‘difficult circumstances.’” Abbott’s remarks give cover to torturers in Sri Lanka and elsewhere, and he should retract them immediately.”

Elaine Pearson, Australia director

(Sydney) – Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott should retract his November 15, 2013 remarks condoning the use of torture in Sri Lanka, Human Rights Watch, the Human Rights Law Centre, Amnesty International Australia, Australian Lawyers for Human Rights, and the Castan Centre for Human Rights said today in a letter to the prime minister.

At the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Colombo, Abbott said, “we accept that sometimes in difficult circumstances, difficult things happen.”
Torture and other ill-treatment of detainees,including rape, has been widely used by Sri Lankan authorities during and since the nearly three-decade-long civil war with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam that ended in May 2009.

“Torture is always illegal and immoral, and there is no exception for ‘difficult circumstances,’” saidElaine Pearson, Australia director. “Abbott’s remarks give cover to torturers in Sri Lanka and elsewhere, and he should retract them immediately.” 

The Madness That Took Over CHOGM

By Shyamon Jayasinghe -November 26, 2013

Shyamon Jayasinghe

It was no mean an achievement for Sri Lanka to have prevailed as the venue of choice for CHOGM 2013 despite calls to change the venue. The government did well to prepare and beautify the capital city and build the expressway from the International Airport. From all accounts Lankans all over the world can at last feel proud of their capital city.

For years Colombo had grown to be more and more a dump. President Premedas was the first head of state to realize the need to beautify our capital. He started with pavements and roundabouts and acquired some cynical comments from his opponents. Cynicism has now given way to optimism. The main player is evidently Gotabaya Rajapaksa who appears to have an eye for beauty, whatever other reservations one may hold with regard to him.

However, what could have been unmitigated glory transformed into ignominy during the CHOGM sessions that followed. A madness swept over CHOGM. The events were largely predictable but President Rajapaksa and his team headed by Foreign Minister GL Peiris was caught napping and they were simply overwhelmed by the tide of hostility. Tony Abbott tried to douse the flames but everyone knew he did what he did to salvage himself from the daily nightmare of boat arrivals. Abbott sees dreadful dreams of boat people crashing into Australia.

To begin with, there was unfinished business that was foreshadowing the event. This related to allegations of human rights violations during the closing stages of the war that were before the United Nations. Our government plainly did nothing to assuage the international community that it would conduct its own independent investigations into the accusations of war crimes. It had its own LLRC appointed and this Lankan body of eminent persons, too, saw the need for a full scale enquiry besides  presenting other ameliorating proposals  all of which were ignored by the government. Government arrogantly leaned on a false theory of sovereignty. Since the Second World War the notion of sovereignty has been regarded as not being absolute. Interdependence of governments, countries, economies and people has taken the lid off sovereignty. Global consciousness of the need for global-level protection of the fundamental rights of the human beings has come strongly to the fore ever since the horrible days of the holocaust. UN conventions were formulated and adopted to which Sri Lanka also was signatory; an International Tribunal at Hague was set up and so on. The rights of any human being living anywhere cannot be bartered away to individual ruling regimes of plastic Pol Pots or others in the country that he inhabits. As has been amply evident even in Sri Lanka the domestic system has sometimes not been able to give relief to an individual put under extreme circumstances. General Sarath Fonseka is just one instance. He had charges framed-up against him and this valiant soldier was incarcerated in jail for three years until some external pressure secured his release.                                            Read More 

Sri-Lanka Murali’s spin on Human Rights is chucking this time

By: Dr C P Thiagarajah-Nov 25, 2013

No one disputes Muttiah Muralitharan’s (Murali’s) slow spin balls in his international cricket matches except of course umpire Mr Hair and Ross Emerson of Australia.

Australian umpire Darrell Hair speaks Muttiah Muralitharan
Mano Ganeshan: Leader Democratic Peoples Front-----------------------Praba Ganeshan, MP

Sri-Lanka Murali’s spin on Human Rights is chucking this time by nelvely

Rights, realism and duplicity: the two faces of Rajapaksa As Mahinda Rajapaksa takes over the position of Commonwealth chairperson-in-office, he faces pressure to investigate human rights abuses in Sri Lanka [Getty Images] With an international war crimes inquiry dangerously close, Sri Lanka's president takes on big powers. Ameen Izzadeen -25 Nov 2013 Ameen Izzadeen is the deputy editor of the Sunday Times, Sri Lanka and international editor at the Wijeya Newspaper Group, Sri Lanka. With an international war crimes inquiry dangerously close, Sri Lanka's president takes on big powers. When Sri Lanka's former President J R Jayewardene was accused of showing scant respect for human rights in the early days of the country's separatist war, he said in the 1980s, "All is fair in love and war." Quoting the 16th century English poet John Lyly, the erudite president was able to silence some of his critics. But President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who last week assumed the title of Commonwealth chairperson-in-office, has no such excuses. He is being cornered. Rights, Realism and Duplicity the Two Faces of Rajapaksa

“Everything can’t be done as that ‘Pissa’(Mad man) wants” -CJ Mohan Peiris: Justice Hettige sneaks to President Rajapaksha
(Lanka-e-News-26.Nov.2013, 7.30PM) The Rajapakse regime judiciary (MaRa’s Kangaroo courts) is fast transforming into a judo-weri (judo contest) with the scabies also that is already afflicting his judges turning into festering sores rapidly , according to reports reaching Lanka e news. Already there is a direct confrontation between President Rajapaksha(MaRa) and his Chief justice (cheat justice) Mohan Peiris alias Mohan Pachoris.

Mohan Peiris at a discussion among the judges on a case conducted by a panel of three judges had blurted out “ we can’t do everything according to what that ‘pissa’ (lunatic) says” referring to Medamulana MaRa as the ‘pissa’ . Justice Sathya Hettige who is a crony of MaRa appointed lately as a judge to the supreme court and was in that group , had immediately sneaked on Peiris to MaRa the ‘Pissa’ . MaRa infuriated beyond measure over this had in his characteristic style scolded Mohan Peiris in the filthiest language untiringly using every filthy word in MaRa’s favorite book of satanic verses . 

MaRa was enraged all the more because Mohan Peiris was virtually carried by MaRa himself from his Temple trees stinking backyard and placed in the lofty seat of CJ.

Later on , MaRa who is ready to waste any amount of time to probe these issues which based on his petty mindedness are special even after neglecting his onerous duties as a President of the country , had received more information from another of his sneaks Sepala Ratnayake , a lawyer , regarding two more statements made by the Chief justice Mohan Peiris at Matara and Kandy.

The CJ had on the two occasions stated that funds collected for the development of the judiciary is not what is provided by the government and they are funds raised by him. MaRa the megalomaniac whose favorite occupation is appropriating the kudos belonging to others had therefore flown into a maniacal rage on hearing this.

It is true that Mohan Peiris after becoming CJ is going round the country and resurrecting the image of the courts as no predecessors of his did.

When Mohan Peiris attended a court ceremony at Anuradhapura court he was welcomed by a group of women lawyers singing songs unprecedented in judiciary history in Sri Lanka. This was akin to school children welcoming a special guest and not a custom followed by lawyers. Medamulana MaRa who is never short of cronies , hangers on and sneaks at his beck and call was informed of this special welcome by some of his sneaks. Megalomaniac Medamulana MaRa who was piqued and peeved on hearing this had responded in a fit of rage, ‘ is this fellow (CJ) trying to become the President?’

May we recall that the conflict between MaRa and Mohan Peiris originated with the removal of the law College Principal W.D. Rodrigo (who passed Namal Rajapakse in the law final exam fraudulently) on the combined effort of CJ and justice Shiranee Burhan . Mohan who shows affinity for Gota more than MaRa is of the same religious nikaya (sect) as Shiranee. When Rodrigo the fraud had met MaRa and related his plight , MaRa who is beholden to him had thought of appointing Rodrigo as an appeal court or supreme court judge to hit back at Peiris and Shiranee.

Be that as it may , as an evil fallout of the judiciary degenerating into MaRa kangaroo court , the whole of last week justice Saleem Marsoof had not mounted the bench with justice Sri Pavan of the SC. Consequently all those cases to be heard had to be postponed. This was the outcome of MaRa appointing Sri Pavan as acting CJ who took oaths before him instead of Saleem Marsoof who is more senior while CJ Mohan Peiris and justice Shiranee Burhan are away from the Island.

Actor And Poet Jayapalan Is An Innocent Man

By Pearl Thevanayagam -November 26, 2013 

Pearl Thevanayagam

“First they came for journalists, then they came for human rights activists; then they swooped down on university students and political dissenters and lately poets are taboo from attending meetings and seminars”. – (Apologies to Lasantha Wickrematunge for pilfering his final editorial he wrote before he was gunned down on January 08, 2009 by the government)

All V.I.S Jayapalan wanted was to visit his mother’s grave since he could not visist her when died in 2008 due to the then prevailing conditions of military offensive against the LTTE. I met him in Oslo in a Tamil shop in October 2004 and he carried a satchel bag. Little did I know he had acted in Indian films and wrote scores of poetry.

Arrest of poet Jayapalan: Suppression of right to speak and misuse of visa regulations

 Tuesday, 26 November 2013 

The Free Media Movement considers the arrest and detention of renowned Tamil poet Shanmugampillai Jayapalan (known as V.I.S. Jayapalan) as one more incident of suppression of freedom of expression rights in Sri Lanka and abuse of the visa regulations.

FMM unequivocally condemns the arrest and detention of V.I.S. Jayapalan and demands his immediate release.

Jayapalan, a Tamil Norwegian who was visiting Sri Lanka was arrested on 22nd November 2013. He was on his way to family ancestral home in Vattakkadu, a village in the Killinochchi district of the Northern Province. He was going to visit his mother’s grave as he couldn’t attend her funeral when she passed away in November 2006. Since his arrest on 22nd he has been detained at the Mirihana immigration detention centre located near Colombo.

According to the Police spokesperson the reason of the arrest was ‘disrupting the ethnic harmony in the country' and 'violation of visa regulations'. This is clearly a charge related to freedom of expression in Sri Lanka. Few days ago Jayapalan had discussed the issues of media and reconciliation at the Jaffna Media Centre with a group of journalists. FMM reliably understands that he has not said any thing to disrupt ethnic harmony in that discussion. Police has concocted the so-called allegation to arrest and detain Jayapalan, seemingly for political reasons. He has been a strong critic of present government.

Arrest and detention of poet Jayapalan on the pretext of violation of the visa regulations is a one more incident in series of suppressive acts in recent times.

On 30th October immigration and police intelligence officials placed Director of the Asia Pacific office of the International Journalists Association, Jacqueline Park with her deputy Jane Worthington under unofficial detention. They were arrested at a media workshop organised by the FMM. They were interrogated for long hours and detained in the hotel rooms for two days without any valid reason. The pretext used was again violation of visa regulations.


On 10th November two opposition parliamentarians from Australian and New Zealand were detained by immigration officers on the pretext of violation of visa regulations.
They were about to share their findings with media at the office of the Tamil National Alliance in Colombo when immigration officials descended and confiscated their passports.

Channel 4 media team, including Callum Macrae and four other journalists who came to cover the CHOGM too were forced to leave the country by intimidations and accusations of the visa regulation violations.

These developments of increased surveillance and high handed intimidation of foreign nationals sends chilling message to the local media and human rights community that dissent and free expression is an offence in Sri Lanka. No doubt these incidents will further shrink the space for free speech and human rights activism in Sri Lanka.

The Free Media Movement calls upon the government to reconsider and stop this practice of using visa regulations to suppress freedom of expression rights in Sri Lanka. Continuation of such a policy will only further erode the Sri Lanka's national as well international image.

Lanka concerned over Sethu project impact

November 26th, 2013

Sri Lanka has shared with the Indian government  a comprehensive report on the environmental impact of the proposed Sethusamudram Ship Canal Project prepared by Sri Lankan experts and officials, the Hindu reported.

The paper quoted  sources in the Sri Lankan Ministry of External Affairs. The query came up in response  to a question from media persons on the hearing in the Supreme Court of India on the Sethusamudram project, scheduled for November 26, a spokesperson of the Ministry said on Monday that apart from the adverse environmental impact of the project, Sri Lanka was concerned about the damage it would cause to Ram Sethu, which is sacred to many in South Asia.

Debt to GDP to reduce to 65 pct by 2016

*Budget Deficit 3.8 pct in 2016
*Current Revenue deficit to Shift to surplus, revenue increase to 16.5 pct of GDP

November 25, 2013, 6:32 pm 

The debt to GDP is anticipated to reduce to 65 percent by 2016 from 79.1 percent in 2012 and 78 percent this year. The budget deficit is also expected to contract in line with the government debt to GDP, to 3.8 percent by 2016 from 5.8 percent in 2013, while the revenue deficit of 1 percent in 2012 and 0.5 percent in 2013 is expected to become a surplus of 2.3 percent of GDP by 2016, the Treasury said.

The government revenue which dropped to 13.6 percent of GDP in 2013 from 13.9 percent in 2012 is expected to increase in the following years to 16.5 percent by 2016, while government expenditure which also dropped to 19.7 percent in 2013 from 20.5 percent would gather momentum, the Treasury said.

Income Tax revenue of the government is expected to increase from the current 12.1 percent to 14.1 percent during the period, while Value Added tax would contribute 3.2 percent, followed by Excise tax 3.1 percent, Tax on external trade 3.2 percent, other taxes 1.9 percent. The non tax revenue is expected to reach 2.3 percent of GDP from 1.5 percent this year.

The current expenditure of the government is expected to be at 14.2 percent of GDP, while the public investment is expected to settle at 6.3 percent of GDP by 2016 from 5.8 this year. -MA

Rallying against Budget 2014

Tuesday, 26 Nov 2013
Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna organized a rally yesterday, protesting against the 2014 Budget, and claiming it has not provided any relief to the masses. The procession which commenced at Punchi Borella at 2.00 p.m., ended at the Hyde Park where a meeting was also held. Pix by Nuwan Amarawansa.

Hot words exchanged in Parliament

By Ravi Ladduwahetty-Tuesday, 26 Nov 2013

A fierce exchange of words erupted during the ongoing budget debate in Parliament today with Jaffna District Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP, S. Sritharan, highlighting the need to commemorate LTTE leader, Velupillai Prabhakaran, and Higher Education Minister, S.B. Dissanayake, retaliating by describing Prabhakaran as a gross murderer.

Earlier, Sritharan had said the slain LTTE leader needed to be commemorated as he was a freedom fighter, and that was why the majority of the Tamil people had voted for the TNA at the recently concluded elections to the Northern Provincial Council.

"Today, the people of the North have been displaced, and they have to be given an environment in which they could live in peace and harmony. Even though we asked the government for funds to develop the North, the people voted for us to live with self respect. Now, we see that the government is getting aid to suppress the rights of the Tamils. That will mean other powers will invade Sri Lanka," the TNA MP said.

An angry Higher Education Minister, S.B. Dissanayake said: "MP Sritharan is claiming that Prabhakaran was a freedom fighter and a hero. Who were those listening to the Tamil youths when they were coming to Parliament with white flags? Prabhakaran also shot the youth who disarmed and crossed over to this side. It was one of them who said that Prabhakaran was in the Nandikadal Lagoon. Please do not forget that!
"Who killed the leaders of the TULF, TELO and EPDP?" Dissanayake queried, and reiterated that Prabkaran was not a hero.

He also reminded the TNA that it was after 105 years that a civil administration had been established in the North, and remarked that the government was creating a united Sri Lanka for all communities to live in peace.
The Minister alleged that Sritharan was rousing communal and racial tension, and added, the government would never have made the effort to rebuild the Jaffna University to its present stature if it had racism in mind.
Minister Vasudeva Nanayakkara and UNP Kurunegala District MP, Akila Viraj Kariyawasam, also hurled abuse at Sritharan.

Of that ‘Budget PSC’

Editorial-November 25, 2013, 8:15 pm 

A Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) has been appointed to deliberate on budgetary allocations to 26 ministries as there isn’t enough time for the committee stage debate which has been telescoped into just 16 days with only two hours allocated to each ministry. Headed by Leader of the House and Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva, the PSC is scheduled to put out a report to be debated by Parliament within two days. This is an unprecedented arrangement.

There are so many ministries and the budget debate cannot go on till the cows come home. It has to be over by Dec. 20, as scheduled, and Parliament has been left with no alternative but to appoint a PSC, we are told. The question is why it never occurred to the government that Parliament would not be able to carry out its fiduciary duties properly to the satisfaction of the public within so short a time frame. Was it astrological advice or the CHOGM which prevented it from presenting the budget a few days earlier?

The onus is on the Opposition to make use of whatever time available to analyse the budget critically and point out its flaws that are many. Trade unions are up in arms as no relief has been granted to the vast majority of workers and prices of food items are expected to go up. An imported reconditioned vehicle will cost as much as a new one, so to speak, thanks to a new tax.

If the Opposition is wise, it could use the on-going budget debate to mine a rich seam of public resentment. Most of all, it ought to ensure that its parliamentarians, especially those billed to speak, won’t go missing while parliament is sitting and the House won’t get adjourned from time to time for want of quorum.

The government usually succeeds in distracting Opposition members from budget debates. Last year, President Mahinda Rajapaksa kept the Opposition busy with Lamborghini, which became a household word, thanks to publicity it received from the UNP and the JVP, and thus ensured that his rivals missed the glaring holes in his budget wholesale. It looks as if, this time around, the Opposition MPs were preoccupied with the CHOGM which is gone and casino which could be tackled separately. An Opposition stalwart, it may be recalled, almost derailed a crucial parliamentary debate on the latest COPE report a few weeks ago by taking up a clash between two UNP factions. Let the budget debate be on the budget and nothing else.

At the rate new ministers are being appointed, all signs are that there will have to be a ‘Budget PSC’ next year as well to handle many more ministries; or there may even come a day when the budget debate will have to be replaced with a PSC process. Anything is possible in this country.

Government politicians’ super human feats are only too well known. A PSC consisting of some of them has already set a world record. Having inquired into a slew of allegations against a chief justice posthaste, it put out a voluminous report overnight much to the surprise of one and all. So, discussing the budgetary allocations to a mere 26 ministries and preparing a report thereon in a few days will be child’s play for the supermen and superwomen within the government ranks.

It is hoped that the ‘Budget PSC’ is only a one-off and next year more time will be allocated for the committee stage debate. Ideally, the Cabinet should be downsized drastically so that the question of lack of time will not arise. Fund allocations for each and every ministry need to be thoroughly debated.

Every Sri Lankan Owes Rs 360,000 As Public Debt Soars: Eran

November 26, 2013 

Sri Lanka’s public debt has increased dramatically under the ruling Rajapaksa regime and every citizen is now in debt to the tune of Rs. 360,000 (USD 2769), says United National Party MP Eran Wickremaratne.

Eran Wickramaratne MP

The figure was confirmed by Deputy Minister of Finance Sarath Amunugama who said that the debt of every citizen had crossed the Rs. 300,000 mark.

Joining the debate on the Government’s Budget for 2014 Wickremaratne said that Sri Lanka was in debt to the tune of Rs. 6.63 Trillion (USD 51 Billion). “During the UNP regime the national debt stood at Rs. 1.86 Trillion,” Wickremaratne said.

All this while 2 percent of Sri Lankans are living on less than USD 2 a day, he said.

Wickremaratne said that the Government was imposing 80 percent of its taxes as indirect taxation on the citizens, while only 20 percent of taxes were being extracted directly, meaning the citizen had no idea how much of a percentage of the price of goods and services were being taken from them as taxes.

Mangala Files Action Against Kili Maharaja But Not Tiran Alles

November 26, 2013

Notice was issued on Sirasa Network Chairman R. Rajamahendran (also known as RR and ‘Kili’ Rajamahendran) to appear before the Matara Additional Magistrate’s Court after UNP MP Mangala Samaraweera filed a criminal case against him accusing the channel of inciting a witch-hunt against his supporters using his broadcasting network.

Rajamahendran

Samaraweera has filed action against Sirasa and its Chairman for telecasting news and views and that violate the peace. The UNP MP has accused the Sirasa Network of repeatedly promoting the protest march against Ranil Wickremesinghe’s leadership of the party on 5 October, leading to violent clashes on the streets of Matara on that day.

He has accused Rajamahendaran and his network of the malicious and unethical abuse of the media aimed at dividing the UNP.

The famously reclusive Chairman of the Capital Maharaja Group has been ordered to appear in Court on December 11.

Questions are however emerging at Sirasa Network as to why Samaraweera has not cited Ceylon Today and Mawbima proprietor Tiran Alles as a respondent in the case.

Sirasa and Mawbima and Ceylon Today have often published deeply prejudicial news about the UNP, its leadership and members loyal to the leadership in tandem.

Samaraweera has a history with Alles, having formed the SLFP Mahajana wing with the businessman after they quit the Rajapaksa Government. Alles was appointed Chairman of Airports and Aviation by President Mahinda Rajapaksa after he became President in 2005, but he was introduced to SLFP politics by Samaraweera.