LTTE Takes Centre Stage

By Jehan Perera

Douglas Devananda

One again, it is the LTTE that is in the news. More than four and a half years after its demise on the battlefields of the Vanni, Australia has been banned the organisation for a further period.  It caused controversy in Sri Lanka’s Parliament when an opposition MP praised its late leader and his destroyed organisation. The manner in which the government sought to suppress any commemoration of it in the North shows how concerned it is about the possible revitalization of the LTTE in the consciousness of the people of the North. The government issued a warning that any adulation or propaganda on behalf of the LTTE is banned by law.

LTTE Takes Centre Stage by nelvely

CHOGM, a slanging match between unruly schoolboys

Sunday, December 01, 2013
In retrospect, it appears that the 2013 Commonwealth Heads of Government (CHOGM) Summit hosted by the Sri Lankan government at huge economic cost represented nothing but a slanging match between unruly schoolboys boasting an unfortunate penchant for alpha male posturing.

Engaging in farcical drama

CHOGM, A Slanging Match Between Unruly Schoolboys by nelvely

Obhrai holds media roundtable on Jaffna visit

Obhrai lays a wreath at Elephant Pass (12/11/13). Photograph Colombo Gazette The ongoing human rights abuses in Sri Lanka were “an elephant in the room” that the government of Sri Lanka cannot hide from said Canada's Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs and International Human Rights, Deepak Obhrai, during a media roundtable on November 30th held together with Corneliu Chisu the MP for Scarborough East-Pickering, regarding his recent visit to Sri Lanka as Canada's representative to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. Stating that he had made the visit to Jaffna via an 8 hour drive, after the Sri Lankan government cancelled all flights to Jaffna, Mr. Obhrai drew on his experiences in Jaffna, where he met with newly elected Chief Minister Wigneswaran, Bishop Savundranayagam of Jaffna, and visited the offices of the Jaffna newspaper, the Uthayan, where he met with the paper’s editor, and said that in his meetings he was consistently told of the lack of reconciliation, increasing disregard of human rights, rule of law, and freedom of religion was emphasised by key players in Jaffna. Responding to questions by the journalists gathered, Mr. Obhrai drew attention to the prevalence of political intimidation and the climate of fear in Jaffna, which he noted “seemed pretty strange considering a government (the TNA) has won an electoral mandate.” Asked by Tamil Guardian to explain the seeming inconsistency in the Canadian's government's approach to human rights, where despite Prime Minister Harper's boycott of CHOGM, Tamil refugees continue to be deported to Sri Lanka despite overwhelming documented evidence of returned deportees facing detention, abuse and torture, Mr. Obhrai said,  “Before somebody is deported out of the country, not only to Sri Lanka, but any other country, there is a very rigid process in place in Canada where they can make appeals and say, indicate to us, why there is a threat to their lives or anything. So this process gives them tremendous opportunity, to all claimant refugees to make a genuine claim." "It is the question that is raised whether the claim is genuine or not, that is for the independent—and there is an independent board to make the decision, it’s not for the government. The government does not make the decision. Once the independent board has rejected a claim, then the government has to fulfill that mandate.” Highlighting his trip to the Uthayan, which became a focal point of the British premier's visit too, Mr. Obhrai criticised the Sri Lankan government's lack of protection or investigation for threats and violence against journalists. “Every time people speak against the government there seems to be a lot of fear. Why would there be a lot of fear in a democratic country?” questioned Mr. Obhrai, as he said that he had noticed a sense of fear across the island too.  Reiterating the Harper government’s call for an independent inquiry saying “we expect the Sri Lankan government to create a credible, transparent accountability of everybody,” Mr. Obhrai's comments however, fell short of the British premier's call for an international inquiry in the absence of credible action by the Sri Lankan government before March 2014. Analysis: Elephants in the room by Tamil Guardian's correspondent in Canada  Mr. Obhrai’s deferral to the independence of the Immigration and Refugee Board in making decisions on a case-by-case basis regarding risks faced by returned Tamil refugees in Sri Lanka is a clear attempt to whitewash the various measures taken by the Harper government to make it more difficult for Tamil refugees to gain asylum in Canada. These measures include the power of the Minister of Immigration to designate refugee arrivals as ‘irregular,’ thereby resulting in mandatory detention and the elimination of appeals processes. Despite the Prime Minister’s boycott of CHOGM and Mr. Obhrai’s criticisms of human rights abuses, closer examination of Canada’s policy towards Sri Lanka reveals a far from principled stance. Strongly advocating for an independent international inquiry, coupled with a moratorium on deportations to Sri Lanka would give greater credence to Canada’s calls for Sri Lanka to uphold key Commonwealth principles including accountability on human rights. As it stands, Canada’s continued co-operation with the Sri Lankan government on the deportation of Tamil refugees risks becoming another “elephant in the room.”

Emulating South African Truth And Reconciliation Commission

December 1, 2013

By Austin Fernando -December 1, 2013

Austin Fernando

Just after the Commonwealth Heads of Governments Meeting (CHOGM), South African President Jacob Zuma had proposed a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) for Sri Lanka. He was to discuss it with the Tamil National Alliance (TNA). Though there had been several Truth Commissions globally, the South African TRC is the best mind-booster when post-conflict justice and reconciliation are considered.

Already there are some who project the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) grabbing this proposal in good faith. Another presents GOSL’s ulterior motives as one way out of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) quagmire in March 2014.

Motivation for TRC

Mentioning of TRC before the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC), I quoted the preamble of the South African Act No. 34 of 1995 Promotion of National Unity and Reconciliation. It read as:

“To provide for the investigation and the establishment of as complete a picture as possible of the nature, committed during the period from March 1, 1960 to the cutoff date contemplated in the Constitution, within or outside the Republic, emanating from the conflicts of the past, and the fate or whereabouts of the victims of such violations; the granting of amnesty to persons who will make full disclosure of all the relevant facts relating to acts associated with the political objective committed in the course of the conflict of the past during the said period; affording victims an opportunity to relate the violations they suffered; the taking of measures aimed at the granting of reparation to, and the rehabilitation and the restoration of the human and the civil dignity of victims of violation of human rights; reporting to the nation about such violations and victims; the making of recommendations aimed at the prevention of the Commission of gross violations of human rights; and for the said purposes to provide for the establishment of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission, a Committee on Human Rights Violations, a Committee on Amnesty and a Committee on Reparation and Rehabilitation; and to confer certain powers on assigned certain functions to and impose certain duties upon that Commission and those Committees; and to provide for matters connected therewith.”

TRC objectives in Sri Lankan context                                 Read More

Govt. continues extravagant borrowing and spending spree

By Our Political Editor-Sunday, December 01, 2013

• Divided UNP voiceless on this and other vices such as rampant corruption, bribery and kickbacks
• Mahinda takes steps to implement more LLRC recommendations ahead of UNHRC sessions in Geneva
• Tensions deepen over ‘Maveerar day’; Wigneswaran says his life in danger, TNA insists Governor must quit

Chief Minister Wigneswaran planting a tree to mark what he called "Thanthai Chelva Day" though it coincided with the 'Maveerar Day'. Pic courtesy Udayan

Govt. Continues Extravagant Borrowing and Spending Spree by nelvely

A lacklustre budget debate

Editorial-November 30, 2013

Given the government’s comfortable parliamentary majority, the passage of the second reading of the 2014 budget on Friday after a lackluster debate surprised nobody. There is no doubt that the Mahinda Rajapaksa government, with Treasury Secretary P.B. Jayasundera responsible for all its budgets since 2005, has retained policy consistency. Massive infrastructure expenditure continues despite unanswered questions on whether the country is getting the best prices for such projects as well as whether some deserve the priority that have been accorded to them. The Economist Intelligence Unit has seen the budget as a ``mix of small-scale concessions to key voters’’ including the rural majority and the bloated public sector. UNP MP Eran Wickremaratne was not wrong when he said in the course of the debate that the government’s solution to unemployment is providing state sector jobs for its supporters and `exporting’ citizen to work abroad.

There is no serious argument that the state sector is over crowded and many of those paid from the public purse are not doing any productive work. In a country with a population of about 20 million, there are 1.4 million government employees according to Wickremaratne’s count. About a third of them are with the police and the security services, he said in his budget speech. There was an expectation that the armed services will be downsized after the end of the war; but that has not happened possibly for good reason. Demobilizing men trained to fight without suitable alternative employment can obviously lead to problems such as those Bangladesh faced after its liberation war. Here in Sri Lanka too we have seen military deserters who have stolen service weapons engaging in criminal activity. There has been a serious effort to deploy servicemen for civilian duties facilitated in part by the Ministries of Defence and Urban Development being brought together. Whether this has resulted in a cost: benefit advantage to the taxpayer has not been demonstrated.

The size of the cabinet and the multiplicity of ministries have resulted in weakened parliamentary control of public expenditure. Quite apart from too little notice being taken to COPE and PAC reports, for the first time in our post-Independence history we saw the government adopting a device of getting a clutch of ministries to have their votes discussed and approved by an all-party standing committee rather than parliament itself as has been hitherto done. Parliament will merely debate the report of this standing committee. Given the number of ministries loaded on the backs of the taxpayer to accommodate UNP defectors and UPFA loyalists, there was insufficient parliamentary time for the budget debate to be concluded in the usual manner. It is a pity that the opposition permitted this to happen without audible protest. Now that the precedent has been set, the chances are that succeeding governments of whatever political complexion will continue to follow the bad example of jumbo cabinets and multiplicity of ministries. CHOGM possibly ate into some parliamentary time this year compelling resort to the standing committee device. But the opposition, as far as we are aware, did not demand or obtain an assurance that this would not be regular practice.

Sri Lanka’s present ranking as a middle income country has shut the door to concessional funding it received in the past for development purposes. This compelled the government to resort to expensive commercial borrowing abroad and this has naturally raised concern in recent years with many critics regarding foreign debt levels particularly as way too high. Servicing and repaying such debt require further borrowing at higher rates of interest. These rollovers, as they are termed, inevitably become progressively more expensive as we have seen. In fact, the question has been raised why our banks pay only a fraction of the interest paid on dollar bonds to local holdings of foreign exchange in resident and non-resident foreign currency accounts (NRFCs and RFCs) in Sri Lankan banks. The answer to that question is fairly obvious. NRFC and RFC account holders are captive lenders whose interest payments are determined at rates fixed through limited competition between local banks. Attractive rates, far higher than those prevailing in overseas markets, must be offered to sell our dollar bonds. This has been done and the various bond issues have been comfortably subscribed. We have thankfully never defaulted on our debt obligations, either local or foreign, and the government’s intention of raising a further USD 1.5 billion overseas was announced in the budget. Ideally export earnings should generate a substantial proportion of our foreign debt service and repayment obligations. This, unfortunately, has not been happening in recent years.

It is doubtful that the opposition collectively, and the UNP in particular, has the gumption to undermine the government even on issues such as the lack of good governance, financial profligacy and its various acts of omission and commission. As Minister Basil Rajapaksa was to say in his speech winding-up the second reading debate on Friday, in 2007 the government risked being toppled on the budget but ``thanks to some UNP MPs’’ (read defectors rewarded with cabinet office), that was not to be. The country is very well aware that President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his brothers, Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa and Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa controls nearly 50 percent of the budget. This has been repeated often enough but not evoked the kind of angry response among ordinary people that the opposition would hope to provoke. The man in the street concerned about making ends meet in the context of the ever rising cost of living does not bother about familial rule and who controls budgeted expenditure. He’s more concerned about the price of dried haalmessas (sprats) and parippu that MP Sudharshini Fernandopulle (Mrs. Jeyaraj) spoke about from the government benches. She appealed for relief from price increases for these essential protein providers for the poor man. The UNP’s Rosy Senanayake pointedly raised the question of increasing the price of sanitary napkins while reducing the duty (why oh why?) on men’s neckties.

While making dhal more expensive was probably to support an import substitution strategy by encouraging people to switch to alternatives like locally grown cowpea, green gram and other pulses, sprats are another matter. Local production would never match demand and the chances are that people will perforce have to switch to another imported product – canned fish. Hiking duty on imported sanitary napkins would also have been intended to give a fillip to local manufacturers. With Christmas round the corner, it is likely that a consumer concession on dhal and sprats will probably be announced in the third reading stage of the budget debate same way duty on imported potatoes and onions were reduced pre-budget. But these are hardly concessions that would enable the poor to eat better.

MaRa vs CJ bout rages: CJ holds back constitutional interpretation to MaRa’s consternation
(Lanka-e-News-01.Dec.2013, 4.00PM) With the Medamulana MaRa - Mohan Peiris chief justice (cheat justice) rift rapidly deepening , the CJ Mohan Peiris has deliberately held back the report asked by MaRa from the supreme court for an interpretation on the constitution, according to reports reaching Lanka e news courts inside information division. The CJ has not sent the interpretation to MaRa yet on purpose .

Though via the 18 th amendment to the constitution the laws were changed that the President can contest the Presidential elections more than twice, it is not stipulated for how long can that extension be made after the term has ended. The second term of Presidency of MaRa began in 2010 , and he can hold office until January 2016. Yet , since his popularity is fast declining , and to take advantage of the chairman of the CHOGM position he secured recently , MaRa is expecting to go for a snap Presidential election ahead of schedule.

In consequence of this MaRa is expecting an interpretation from the Supreme court (SC) on the 18th amendment , but following the rift between MaRa and CJ revolving around the Law College Principal Rodrigo who was chased out from the post because he passed Namal in the law finals exam fraudulently , Mohan Peiris CJ has wantonly delayed the report on the interpretation of the 18 th amendment which had infuriated MaRa .

An English daily newspaper was about to publish the conflict between MaRa and his own CJ , but because of instructions from Hettige , MaRa’s lackey and co ordinating secretary to the newspaper , it was not published. 

Legal Gaps PreventAction Against Rape

By Waruni Karunarathne

Sri Lanka continues to encourage a culture of impunity due to the lack of law enforcement with reference to sexual abuse and violence against women. Reported incidents of rape have increased drastically over the last few years in the country whereas the number of silent victims is not known.

In 2011, Khuram Shaikh, a British citizen was killed and his Russian girl friend was gang-raped by eight men in a Tangalle hotel. From 2008 to 2013, 28 women were raped and murdered in Kotakethana, Kahawatta that included three double murders.  A 14 year old girl was raped by thirteen rich businessmen with political affiliations in a Tangalle hotel. Recently in Jaffna, a woman named Logarini was gang-raped and killed. Many women on Noori Estate were reportedly gang raped and sexually harassed – the list goes on but no significant measures are being taken to punish the criminals and bring justice to the victims.

Despite Minister of Child Development and Women’s Empowerment Tissa Karaliyadda denying having any details on politicians being involved in most of the cases, the majority of the above mentioned incidents were carried out either by political thugs or men with political affiliations. Last week, women’s groups, activists and youth groups in collaboration with Women and Media Collective organized a walk called “Winning Back the Night” to highlight many of these issues including the need to take immediate action on violence against women and women’s freedom of mobility without facing sexual harassment.

Speaking to The Sunday Leader, Attorney-at-law and Convenor of the Women’s Movement Shamila Daluwatte said, “Rape incidents and sexual abuse on women and children in the country are clearly on the rise. Most of the rape cases have gone unreported due to social stigma or due to threats from the people involved. There are many gaps in the legal system that prevent action being taken against men involved in rape cases in Sri Lanka. For example, we do not have laws in Sri Lanka to criminalize marital rape unless the wife is judicially separated. This encourages many men to engage in violence against women within marriage”. She also highlighted the necessity to stop granting suspended sentences to criminals found guilty of rape and other serious crimes against women.

In 2012, according to reports by the Women’s Bureau of the Police Department, 1,910 incidents of rape were reported to the police whereas the actual number of the incidents is estimated to be much higher. Among the reported rape incidents in 2012, 84% of the victims were below 18 years of age.  Under Penal Code Amendment No 22 of 1995, the minimum age of ‘consent’ in the offence of rape has been increased from twelve to sixteen years. However there exists a problem in the fact that even though a girl above the age of 16 years girl can give consent to sexual intercourse, she cannot get married without parental consent until she is 18 years.
“There is also no unifying judicial code for marriage that applies to everyone in the country,” Daluwatte observed. She also pointed out the lack of support from the legislature in the country to legalize abortion at least in cases of rape and incest in order to avoid further discrimination against the victims.

Viola Perera, Action Networker for Migrant Workers said, “There is a dire need to expedite the process of hearing rape and sexual abuse cases in order to bring justice to the victims and punish the criminals. Cases related to sexual violence against women and child abuse should be given verdicts at least within six months of filing the case. Recently, we were informed of a case about a girl who had been raped when she was 7 years old. However the matter was brought before the court only when she was 18 years old.”
Shamila Daluwatte said that the public and the media need to push the relevant authorities in order to expedite the legal process against criminals, similar to the fast track process implemented in India after the rape incident of the 23 year old woman in Delhi. She emphasised the need to have active campaigns to speak against violence that constantly and consistently victimizes women.
Speaking to The Sunday Leader, civil society activist and Founder of the Women and Media Collective Kumudini Samuel stated, “Rape is undoubtedly a serious act of violence committed against women and girls or anyone for that matter. The minimum sentence for a rape crime varies, depending on the circumstances, from 7 to 14 years under the 1995 Amendment to the Penal Code while allowing a suspended sentence which however lessens the seriousness of the crime. From the incidents reported, the number of convictions is very low due to many reasons including delays in implementing the laws. The existing court proceedings also re-victimize women discouraging them from seeking justice. In many cases, men who committed the crime are either politically influential or someone in the family or known to the family and therefore often adversarial”.

During a debate in Parliament, Rosy Senanayake, MP, pointed out that out of men who are charged for sexual abuse and violence against women only 2% are actually remanded. It has also being reported that a woman is raped every 90 minutes in Sri Lanka while 3 to 5 children are raped every day.
A recent UN led multi-country survey in six Asia-Pacific countries namely Sri Lanka, China, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Papua New Guinea and Cambodia has also revealed that 97% of men convicted for rape have not faced any legal consequences in Sri Lanka.
When The Sunday Leader requested information about the rape complaints and statistics on the reported incidents from the Ministry of Child Development and Women’s Affairs, the Ministry refused to divulge any data on the grounds that they received that data from a third party referring to the Police Department’s Women’s Bureau.

When questioned, E.W.F. Eric Elayappaarachchi, the Secretary to the Ministry of Child Development and Women’s Affairs, refused to answer any questions related to ‘rape’ as if the word itself was prohibited within the premises. He was forthcoming only about the government having allocated enough funds to the Ministry of Child Development and Women’s Affairs and how positive the government is about protecting the rights of women.

While the Secretary to the Ministry of Child Development and Women’s Affairs was extremely pleased that the government had allocated an extra 300 million rupees from the Budget 2014 to increase awareness among women and children to prevent sexual abuse and harassment, Kumudini Samuel stressed upon the importance of eradicating the sense of impunity that prevails in the country.  She said, “Women are being recognized as the victims of violence. Women are being advised and forced to act in certain ways for the wrongs committed by men and that has curtailed the freedom of women. The authorities should involve the perpetrators in the process of providing a remedy to the problem. It is men who should learn to respect women and put an end to violence against women”.

Women’s bodies are not political battlefields!

30/11/2013




New Delhi, 30th November 2013. The explosion of communal violence in Muzaffarnagar, Shamli and adjoining districts of Uttar Pradesh is the latest in a long series. The collusion between patriarchy and communalism has been starkly exposed in Muzaffar Nagar case too. Patriarchal control of women’s sexuality and opposition to the idea of women’s freedom of choices in relationships has been given new dimensions by the gatekeepers of caste and community, who have created the fiction of ‘love jihad’ to camouflage the reality of sexual violence. As the virus of communal politics gathers force once again in the countdown to the 2014 elections, sexual violence is once again being deployed as a tool to secure electoral gains. We fear that Muzaffar Nagar is only the beginning – there will be more such attempts to turn women’s bodies into battlefields where contending parties vie for votes.

These sentiments were echoed in a meeting organized by Women Against Sexual Violenceand State Repression a network of women’s rights, dalit rights, human rights and civil liberties organizations and individuals across India, in Delhi on 30th November, Saturday.

Even though Gujarat 2002 stands out for the unprecedented explosion of sexual violence that was unleashed on minority women and despite the public outrage and the many pledges of preventing a repetition of this horrifying scenario, the violence in Muzzafar Nagar is a warning that the strategy piloted in Gujarat is still a central element of the right-wing political arsenal, rooted as it is in the age-old perception of women – whether Hindu or Muslim – as the ‘property’ of the community and as the repositories of ‘community honour’.

In Muzaffarnagar, inflammatory speeches and frenzied slogans of ‘bahu bachao, beti bachao’and ‘beti bahu ki izzat bachao’ were used to mobilise men of the dominant castes by convincing them that “their women” were in imminent danger.” The notion of protecting community honour was invoked to justify a direct call for targeted violence against minority women. A wave of sexual violence was unleashed against women immediately after the Mahapanchayat held on 7th September 2013 in Muzaffar Nagar.

Women and girls were chased down as they tried to flee the mobs, and subjected to rape and gang rape. Young girls were singled out for particularly humiliating and degrading forms of violence.

As in Gujarat, the impact of the riots has been magnified and intensified by the passivity, if not the outright collusion, of the local administration. The Mahapanchayat of 7 September was allowed to proceed despite its being a blatant violation of prohibitory orders.

Sehba Farooqui from AIDWA told that two Mahapanchayats held prior to the riots were active in spreading rumours about Muslim youth harassing Hindu women.

Farah Naqvi, member of NAC, talked about the internal displacement and absence of emergency response in such situations. “what bothers me most is the internal displacement caused by such incidents. It impacts women severely and leads to increased sexual violence.”

Even after 3 months, there are little or no arrangements for provision of even basic minimum foodgrains, health-care or sanitation in the camps where victims are housed in inhuman conditions. There has been no action on the question of return and rehabilitation of the survivors ghetoised in the camps. Women are being intimidated to remain silent about the sexual violence to which they have been subjected.

The Nellie massacre of 1983, the anti-Sikh carnage of 1984, the 2002 pogrom in Gujarat, the attacks on Christians in Orissa in 2007 and 2008, the communal violence in 2012 in Assam, as well as other incidents and episodes, too many to count, are still bywords for horror. The unwillingness of the political and administrative system to make itself accountable has led not only to the loss of innocent lives, but to the permanent uprooting and displacement of lakhs of people who have little hope of justice, reparation or restoration of their lives.

WSS leaders said, “As women, as feminists and as citizens committed to human rights and democracy, we must and will counter the anti-women, anti-democratic methods and means being deployed by a shamelessly patriarchal, communal and violent political system that is clearly bereft of all morality. We call on all democratic and peace-loving people to expose, condemn and oppose those who are turning women’s bodies into battlegrounds for petty political gains. We demand justice and reparation for the women who are confronting and resisting the politics of sexual violence in Muzaffarnagar as well as in other parts of the country.”

The meeting was addressed by Farah Naqvi (member NAC), Sehba Farooqui (AIDWA) Haseena (Awaz-e-niswan, Mumbai), Seema Mustafa (Centre for Policy Analysis), Pushpa (Vanangana), Mohan Rao (Professor, JNU), Purnima Gupta (Nirantar, Delhi), Uma Chakraborty (Feminist Historian), Kalyani Menon-Sen (renowned feminist).

MaRa - CJ conflict escalates :CJ’s motor bike security contingent withdrawn
(Lanka-e-News-01.Dec.2013, 4.00PM) Following the escalation of the rift between MaRa and chief justice (CJ) (cheat justice) Mohan Peiris , Medamulana MaRa has given instructions to the IGP to immediately withdraw the motor bike security contingent (which precedes CJ’s convoy) allocated to Peiris.

The police headquarters provides the necessary motor bike security contingent (which precede their convoys) to VIPs of the country .The security provided to the chief justice (CJ) is by the Judicial security division affiliated to the police security division. Kumarasiri Hettige the secretary in charge of parliamentary affairs of Medamulana MaRa, and a notorious MaRa lackey had telephoned the IGP and instructed him to withdraw the motor bike security contingent of the CJ forthwith.

After the appointment of Mohan Peiris to the post of CJ , he was provided with four STF soldiers and an STF officer for his security in addition to the JSD security detail. 

Hettige the MaRa lackey who spoke to the IGP has also asked for the lists of names of the additional STF soldiers , and the JSD security contingent of the CJ.

Interestingly , when Medamulana MaRa conspired to oust the lawful chief justice Shiranee Bandaranaike (still she is the CJ ) of the country earlier on , as a prelude to such a dastardly action , he curtailed her security contingent.

WORLD: When freedom replaced “patriotism”

December 1, 2013

The truth has been placed before us that the passing of laws does not mean people will benefit from them without proper implementation through the criminal justice system in the particular country. In the words of the great poet Rabindranath Tagore, “facts are many, but the truth is one.”

Recent violence in Bangladesh just a few days after the landmark law criminalizing custodial death and torture was passed, revealed that right without remedy is nothing but an illusion. Since the creation of Bangladesh in 1971, the victims of the bloodbath at birth are unknown, and this event has been classified as the ‘forgotten genocide’ in modern history. This forgotten genocide was carried out by Yahya Khan who earned (according to the account by the late B. Raman, then a key player in the India’s external intelligence agency the Research and Analysis Wing, R&AW), the gratitude of both the US and China by making possible the secret visit of Henry Kissinger, Nixon’s National Security Adviser, to Beijing in 1971 for talks with Mao and his associates. It helped Pakistan’s military dictator cover-up the most ruthless elimination of unarmed innocents, including women, and children, in the region. The dark annals of the cruelty that occurred in Bangladesh, then East Pakistan, ranks bloodier than Bosnia and to some may be compared with what happened in Rwanda.

After years of continuous bloodshed Bangladesh has been trying to archive a rational formula to correct the wrongdoings of the past. In this context the criminalization of custodial death and torture in Bangladesh is none other than the twilight of a new dawn in the nation. But as Saber Hossain Chowdhury, a driving force behind this law, also a member of parliament from the ruling party, explained in an interview with us, “Now that the law is in place, implementation is of course the clear priority and challenge. The context I think needs to be in terms of capacity rather than competence and it needs to be seen and addressed as a broad and across the spectrum issue.”

Torture is endemic, not only in Bangladesh, but in most countries around Asia. In fact, many countries are spending more effort trying to find new techniques of torture to bamboozle the criminal justice system, instead of abolishing this cruel practice.

Political Culture

What we are repeatedly seeing is that torture is well instituted in the country where the system has deteriorated due to political nihilism and motivations of cultural extremism. That is why, despite all international conventions signed and laws passed, torture and other inhuman practices still occur with impunity in too many countries. As we pointed out earlier, we need to create a culture against torture.

Creating such a culture is a complicated task and needs to deal in higher respect of humanity. We need to discuss the importance of personal liberties and freedoms, and make a path for our generation to follow and value. Unfortunately, the idea of freedom has been evaporating and replaced with consumerism which is not freedom at all. It has been able to disconnect our hard earned personal liberties while giving us thrilling and emotional events in our daily life.

As this writer pointed some years ago, the question that begs to be asked is: how are we going to continue from the point of disconnection? What is the role that we should play regarding not only the prevention of torture but also the protection of human rights?

Today, in many countries, morality in intellectual discourse is absent and political vulgarism has spread from top to bottom. Social control at any cost has become a norm of governance. The regime is not using anything special, but instead our own people to eliminate our own people.

Freedom replaced “patriotism”

This is how an absolute power cynically manipulates the people, while dividing the nation into various multitudes. It forces us to accept that these micro–multitudes are separate nations. If we are unable to recognize this as madness then we will certainly become citizens of blind nations, not just that of blind-folded ones.

A nation is an idea for people to enjoy their “freedom”, without hesitation, within a legislative framework. This law should be above every citizen who has been guaranteed equality and fraternity, through co-habitation within an institutional framework. But what has happened in many countries is that fear has replaced freedom.

Fear has become normal and is covered by the idea of “patriotism”. Have we recognized our dream of freedom, when the country has become the paradise of “patriotic” criminals? Patriotism, currently, is nothing but the deadly evolution of narrow minded politics which has distorted language.

Many countries around the globe are still under tremendous stress and ordinary people have more difficulties than in the past. The tragedy of what we have seen in history is that, at the end of many crisis, by default the people tend to create absolute power. What we have to understand here is what Étienne de La Boétie pointed out, “The tyrant, indeed, has nothing more than the power that you confer upon him to destroy you. Where has he acquired enough eyes to spy upon you, if you do not provide them yourselves? How can he have so many arms to beat you with, if he does not borrow them from you? The feet that trample down your cities, where does he get them if they are not your own? How does he have any power over you except through you? How would he dare assail you if he had no cooperation from you?”

What is ordinary man to do with their political engagement? In other words, we are witnessing in many countries, even after the overthrow or death of the most ruthless, unlawful, and corrupt authoritarians, the rise of the same type of regime in a difference face. This is the reason why most countries touched by the Arab Spring lost their way to personal liberty and social change.

As George Battett, elaborated, “…the strength of the government rests not with itself, but with the people. A great tyrant may be a fool, and not a superman. His strength lies not in himself, but in the superstition of the people who think that it is right to obey him. So long as that superstition exists it is useless for some liberator to cut off the head of tyranny; the people will create another, for they have grown accustomed to rely on something outside themselves.”

The elimination of the practice of torture hinges on this political complicity. Without an understanding about the nature of the functioning of the system the chance to change the system is a myth. Social systems are neither a consumer product that we can buy or rent from the market nor a material that we can import from another country. It is not a creation of the almighty gifted from the heavens. A social system is a creation of mankind. That is a reflection of our responsibilities. In other words, the social system is the result of our behavior and the decisions we take in our way of life.

An understanding of the real breakdown of law enforcement agencies and structural destruction is more important than engaging and wasting time with popular titles. How can we change this kind of society?

It is obvious that without an in-depth understanding about the society itself, restoring it is a daydream. At the same time, having a comparative understanding of history will guide us to create alternatives.

Understanding history will stop us from repeating the same tragedies. It is only then that we can continue our real discourse on what we want, how are we going to achieve it, and how we can achieve public understanding to change attitude and create the culture.

Nilantha Ilangamuwa, editor of the ‘Torture: Asian and Global Perspectives’, a bi-monthly magazine published by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), based in Hong Kong and the Danish Institute Against Torture (DIGNITY) based in Denmark, where this piece appeared as the editorial of its latest issue.

ISSN 2304-134X ( PRINT) ISSN 2304 -1358 ( ONLINE) Click here to download the latest issue of TORTURE: Asian and Global Perspectives, issue in PDF format.

Farmers’ pension bankrupt after releasing monies to Mavilaru farmers – Dr. Amunugama

Sunday, 01 December 2013 

Deputy Finance Minister Dr. Sarath Amunugama says that the farmers’ pension scheme became bankrupt after releasing monies from the pension fund to pay compensation to the farmers affected by the closure of the Mavilaru anicut in 2006.

Dr. Amunugama has made this comment in parliament in response to a question posed by an opposition parliamentarian.

The deputy minister has said that Rs. 120 million was taken from the farmers’ pension fund to pay Rs. 25,000 for an acre of paddy land owned by 2,918 farmers.

Dr. Amunugama has added that the Fort Magistrate’s Court is currently into an alleged fraud that had been committed in making compensation payments to the Mavilaru farmers.

The allegation of misappropriating monies due to Mavilaru farmers has been directed at President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s lackey, Special Projects Minister S.M. Chandrasena.

Internecine Battles And Guerilla Tactics

By Rasika Jayakody -December 1, 2013 |

Rasika Jayakody

Karu Jayasuriya, the newly appointed Chairman of the UNP Leadership Council assumed his spade-work last week when he chaired a meeting for party supporters of Gampaha ahead of a possible provincial council election that will, in all likelihood, take place early next year. The purpose of the meeting was to welcome the new Leadership Council of the United National Party and its members. Although the meeting took place amidst heavy rain, thunder and lightning, more than 3000 party supporters attended the meeting, making it the biggest gathering of UNP supporters to be held in the Gampaha District after November, 2005. The meeting was attended by Parliamentarians such as Ruwan Wijeyawardena, Lakshman Kiriella and some leading Buddhist monks affiliated with the UNP including Ven. Girambe Ananda and Meetiyagoda Gunarathne.

As the meeting started amidst heavy rain, a branch of a nearby mango tree fell off, startling everyone including the speakers. Although it did not harm anyone, some considered this as a bad omen for Jayasuriya as well as for the Leadership Council of the party which has just assumed work. Still, the organizers were determined to proceed with the meeting and the large majority of the crowd too supported the decision. Due to inclement weather, the loudspeakers too did not function properly, but the organizers managed to retain the crowd and the meeting went on without any change in the schedule. In the end, the meeting ended on a high note as the rain did not mar the spirit of the party supporters.

A few days after this meeting, the Leadership Council of the party, who met at the Parliamentary complex on November 26, made another radical decision to replace all the under-performing electorate organizers, regardless of their status or grandeur. This decision has now ruffled a lot of feathers among a sizable proportion of electorate organizers as some view this is an act of ‘scapegoating’ organizers for a series of shameful electoral defeats suffered by the party throughout the past several years. However, the Leadership Council of the party is adamant on the decision saying, “The change has to start somewhere.” It is interesting to see how the Leadership Council deals with certain electorate organizers who have been appointed by the party leader solely on his whims and fancies. It is also interesting to see how the Council deals with some of its own members who are also electorate organizers who have failed to produce desired results for the party.      Read More

Broad alliance to be formed for key elections

Sunday, 01 December 2013 

A broad political alliance is to be formed to face key elections that area expected to be held next year.

It is learnt that discussions are currently underway to for a broad alliance that would bring together Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe, former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunge, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and former Army Commander Sarath Fonseka.

This broad coalition is looking at forming the alliance in time for the next key national election and is to present the common candidate at the next Presidential election.

The name of the common candidate is to be made public when the Presidential election is announced.

However, the JVP has not yet joined the discussions at a formal level.

Farmers in loin cloths in Colombo tomorrow

 Sunday, 01 December 2013 

Farmers in loin cloths are to take to the streets in Colombo tomorrow (2) to protest against the 2014 Budget.

Farmers’ associations have organized the protest in Colombo with the participation of farmers from several districts against the government’s failure to provide solutions to their long standing problems in the 2014 Budget.

The All Ceylon Farmers’ Federation has said that a protest will be held tomorrow in Fort, Colombo as a symbol of the massive protest campaign being organized by farmers’ associations in island wide against the 2014 Budget.

National Organizer of the Federation, Namal Karunaratne has said that farmers wearing loincloths will protest in the Colombo streets and distribute leaflets to create awareness about the issues faced by the farmers in the country.

He explained that the protest in Colombo on the 2nd will be the beginning of a series of protests carried out by farmers against the failure to address their issues in the 2014 Budget.

An alliance of farmers’ associations had submitted a set of six proposals to the government to be included in the 2014 Budget that would address the issues faced by the farmers around the country, but the government had not included them in the budget, Karunaratne said.

Kili Maharaja the exploiter in a frenzy tries to ‘buy’ the judge :Berates his stooges under his payroll

(Lanka-e-News-01.Dec.2013, 4.00PM) Following a petition filed by a former Minister and a present M.P. Mangala Samaraweera , Raja Mahendran alias Kili Maharaja the illicit immigrant (Kalla thoni) who had always been successful with clandestine business operations ,and avoided most scrupulously the public spotlight from exposing him is in a deep quandary and had fallen on the ground afflicted with mental despair and dementia. This Kalla thoni avaricious racketeer is as a last resort trying his best to avert his court involvement , by searching for loopholes to keep away from courts, according to reports reaching Lanka e news inside information division. 
Samaraweera had filed an action in the Matara courts on the 25 th Nov. under section 81 of the criminal procedure code requesting court to issue an order to the Sirasa media chain belonging to the private Capital Maharaja Organization to refrain from deploying its media activities to incite public in a manner that violates the law and causes breach of the peace thereby entailing legal action against them.

Accordingly the Matara magistrate Manjula Thilakaratne has issued summons directing Kili Maharaja alias Raja Mahendran , the chairman and managing Director of Capital Maharaja private Organization to appear in court on 11 th December . Kili Maharaja who had managed to steer clear of litigation and courts despite his clandestine activities so far has got flabbergasted by this legal action mostly in fear that his dirty linen that he had been so cautiously hiding can get washed in public.
Demented Kili Maharaja who is now like a cat on hot bricks is thoroughly disappointed and disillusioned because some of the the UNP M.P.s and UNP Executive members who had been in his payroll collecting ‘santhosams’ monthly had also not intimated to him of this development . In fact he had told his lawyers , at least ,had that Sajith , Ravi, Buddhika and Senasinghe who had been eating and drinking out of me had intimated to me prior on this , I would have taken measures to give a bribe to the magistrate mounting the bench on that day ,and got the decision changed. ‘These fellows after exploiting me to the full waited until I were driven into this plight. Now not one of them is speaking on my behalf. Even Fonseka is not there to talk for me ,’ Kili Maharaja had bemoaned.. As a last ditch effort he had told his lawyers , to look for a way for him to circumvent the law, and keep away from courts on the 11 th.
Mind you , even many of the Sirasa media coolies (Sirasa jadamadhiya) do not know who this Kili Maharaja who is past 70 years of age. His photographs are not in the galleries of many media Institutions. He is operating from behind like the terrorist leader Prabhakaran for obvious reasons. He is guilty of his illicit activities like Prabhakaran so much so that he is fully aware he would be exposed one day like Prabhakaran . Kili Maharaja is an Indian whose father came to Sri Lanka from India by boat as a ‘Kall thoni’ (illicit immigrant) as sources reveal , and after ‘blood sucking’ the poor docile gullible Sri Lankans and workers reached the present position he is now in. 
Later his father Sinnethamby Rajendram and his friend Subramanian Mahadevan jointly started a business venture in 1938. In 1957 when his friend Mahadevan died , Kili’s father acquired the ownership of all the joint assets, and continued the business.
In 1965 after the death of Sinnethamby Rajendram , his son Kili Raja Mahendran set about expanding the business after slyly ingratiating into the favor of every government that came to power in the past and present.
The main Organization which has 18 companies under it now having built this ‘business empire’ over two family generations via absolute ‘blood sucking’ and exploitation of the workers have never done anything for the welfare of the Sri Lankan poor classes ; not even a campaign for the benefit of the poor. 

While in other countries , business magnates set aside a fraction of their earnings towards the welfare of the poor classes in destitution and launch welfare programs , this Kallathoni Maharajas whose gaze are fixed only on exploitation of the destitute Sri Lankans ,while making obscene displays of their affluence and influence (built using unscrupulous and venal politicians) never even gave thought to welfare programs.
During the LTTE period , these Kili Maharajas who fatten on death and despair like the vultures, by paying extortion monies to the LTTE supported them traitorously . Rajapakses who became aware of that attacked the Sirasa media with claymore mine bombs. 
After the annihilation of the LTTE , the Maharajas who are notorious even during the time of the LTTE as the most self seeking opportunists who change direction like the weather cock changing direction with the prevailing wind, stealthily and sordidly crept into the Rajapakse fold for the most selfish nefarious reasons, began justifying through its Sirasa media every criminal action and cruelty of the Rajapakses , while spending lavishly to create divisions within the opposition. 
The Maharajas are now even scared to utter the name of ‘Rajapakse’ have descended to the level of only meekly making the sound ‘beek, beek’ 
It is well to recall that when opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe revealed clearly that Kili Maharaja using his Sirasa media is bitterly attacking the UNP unrelentingly day in and day out for not appointing two henchmen of Kili Maharaja as MPs through the national list , Kili Maharaja had still not refuted that allegation.
The cowardly Maharajas and their henchmen who are in their payrolls collecting monthly payments learnt a lesson of their life at Matara. The cowardly Maharaja who is now in portal fear of appearing in court has even gone to the extent of telling his lawyers to save him even by arranging a bribe to the magistrate . The scoundrels and rascals who propped Maharaja and are accustomed to living by eating from both sides are now like cats hiding behind walls after excreting on Maharaja’s laps.