SRI LANKA: Independent investigation needed for Sameera's extrajudicial killing

March 24, 2015

Dear Friends, 

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has detailed information on the killing of Sameera Dananjaya Pathirana (39) in the cell where he was detained in Ja-Ella Police Station. Sameera was illegally arrested on 17 March 2015. Later, police officers admitted him to the Ja-Ella Government Hospital due to his precarious medical condition. Immediately after the admission, doctors pronounced Sameera dead. Sameera, who used to reside in No. 4, Vishaka Watte, Ja-Ella, Gampaha District, leaves behind a young child. 

The police have since admitted arresting and detaining Sameera. According to the police statement, Sameera hung himself, using his trousers as noose. The statement goes on to state that Sameera hung himself on a hook on the cell door, using material from his own trousers. It argues that immediately after he hung himself the thread gave way and Sameera fell to the ground, after which officers brought him to the hospital and admitted him for treatment. 

This case is symbolic of the crisis that faces the Sri Lankan police force. A lack of accountability and professionalism has allowed extrajudicial punishment and torture to become standard. Protection of all arrestees and detainees is vested with the Officer-in-Charge of the police station, under the Departmental Orders (DOs) of the Police Department.  The Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) of the division supervises the OICs duty. In the recent past, the AHRC has reiterated that it is the ASPs who are ignoring their responsibilities and DO's. As a result, innocent detainees have been paying with their lives. 

By ignoring their duty the ASPs and OICs have encouraged the systematic torture that prevails in and around Sri Lankan police stations and extrajudicial killings committed by law enforcement officers. Continual and flagrant violation of the laws has encouraged the existing practice of impunity in Sri Lanka. 

This is the second case in two weeks that the AHRC has documented and issued an Urgent Appeal relating to a cell death inside the police station following arresting and detention. To stop these heinous crimes, once a credible independent investigation uncovers how and why such events take place, effective reforms must be brought into force.

CASE NARRATIVE: 

According to information received by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), the victim, Sameera Dananjaya Pathirana (39), resident of No. 4, Vishaka Watte, Ja-Ella, Gampaha District, was illegally arrested by police officers attached to the Ja-Ella Police Station on 17 March 2015. 

The mother of the victim, Ms. T.M. Nandaseelee stated that her son Sameera left home at 9 a.m. on 17th March to go to the Teaching Hospital of North Colombo at Ragama to get treatment for an ankle injury. Because of this chronic injury, which he had been suffering for a long time, he had difficulty working. Not having heard from Sameera the entire day on 17 March, the family awaited his return. 

On the morning of 18 March, officers of Ja-Ella Police Station informed Sameera's family that he had been arrested, detained in the police cell, and had later died after being admitted to the Ja-Ella Government Hospital. 

Relatives inquired further and learned that Sameera was arrested by officers attached to the Ja-Ella Police Station on 17 March when Sameera was returning home following his treatment. He was arrested at the Ja-Ella Public Bus Terminus. Then he was brought to the police station and detained there. Later, in early hours of 18 March, the officers admitted Sameera to the Ja-Ella Government Hospital in critical condition. Later, hospital authorities pronounced Sameera dead. 

The police announced to the media that Sameera had been arrested and detained by the police. According to the police statement, Sameera hung himself, using his trousers as noose. The statement goes on to state that Sameera hung himself on a hook on the cell door, using material from his own trousers. It argues that immediately after he hung himself the thread gave way and Sameera fell to the ground, after which officers brought him to the hospital and admitted him for treatment. 

Family members strongly believe that following Sameera's illegal arrest he had been severely tortured and later extrajudicially killed by the police officers. To cover up the torture, the police made up the story that Sameera had committed suicide by trying to hang himself. Relatives questioned the police version in the statement: how could Sameera attempt to commit suicide in the fashion described while police officers were on duty guarding the cell. They have further questioned that how this could happen when the cell in question is located at the center of the station where dozens of officers move and work around the clock. Sameera's family members have further stated that while several other detainees are present in the same cell how can one detainee hang himself without eliciting response from other detainees or the officers on duty or those milling about. 

The relatives have learned that the police department has initiated a special inquiry into the death of Sameera under the supervision of Assistant Superintendent of Police IV, (ASP IV) of Kalaniya Division along with special police team. Sameera's body has been transferred to the North Colombo Teaching Hospital for post mortem examinations. 
Presently, family members of the victim, their relatives, and neighbors of the victim, as well as other witnesses, are living in fear for their lives and are seeking proper protection for themselves. 

SUGGESTED ACTION: 
Please call for a thorough, legitimate investigation into this case of extrajudicial killing and for those proven responsible to be brought before a court of law. A credible investigation would need to examine the lack of protection and support extended to a family and a witness under threat. Such protection must now be promptly provided. Please also call for the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka to independently investigate the case, particularly the roles of high-ranking police officers in the district. 

The AHRC has written to the Special Rapporteur on Extra-judicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions informing him of this case. 

To support this appeal, please click here: 

Hulftsdorp Shaken; New Judge Creates Stir

March 25, 2015

The Hulftsdorp court complex witnessed a revolution of some sort following the appointment of Colombo District Judge Frank Gunawardena, with Petitions being filed against him by lawyers the Colombo Telegraph learns.

Judge Gunawardena has taken the country’s main court complex by storm by being vehemently opposed to lawyers moving for ‘dates’. Instead following his appointment as Colombo District Judge, he has continuously insisted that Lawyers argue and end cases without moving for ‘dates’ on unsubstantiated grounds.

Gunawardena is the most senior District Judge in the country, and was appointed to the Colombo District court following the promotion of former Judge Sujatha Alahapperuma.

Gunawardena has created waves due to his uncompromising style, and novelty in hearing cases, which had been lacking within the Lankan judiciary according to many litigants and senior Lawyers.

However, despite this, the Colombo Telegraph reliably learns that certain lawyers have verbally and in writing complained to the Chief Justice regarding the judge.

Gunawardena has gained a reputation for insisting on speedy conclusion of trials before him and has consistently against written submissions often insisting Lawyers to argue matters in open court.

“He insists on verbally arguing cases which is actually a lawyers job. That was how lawyers argued cases in the Golden Era of the Lankan judiciary until it slowly diluted into written submissions which made lawyers basic journalists” a senior Presidents Counsel told Colombo Telegraph on the condition of anonymity.

The late S.L Gunasekara in his book ‘Lore of the Law and other memories’ specifically called for a reform to the system of Written Submissions and instead insisted on oral argument of cases.

“He told my lawyer that he wants the case heard today. In open court he berated a lawyer who had taken two years to settle issues and said he was disgusted by this practice. After having come to court all these years, it sounded like a breath of fresh air. Earlier either my lawyer or the opposing side would give some reason or the other and move for a date and the judges don’t bat an eyelid when giving a date- leaving us with no hope and high expenses” a litigant told Colombo Telegraph.

The laws delays have been a focal point, with some litigation taking over a decade to conclude in all courts across the island.

Mohan Pieris who was sitting as Chief Justice previously issued strict instructions for the speedy conclusion of cases, however, the continuous dominance of lawyers and adherence to archaic procedure has resulted in the instructions not conformed to.

Gunawardena a career judicial officer has served in many outstation areas prior to his current posting and is known for his uncompromising integrity and the fact that he cannot be intimidated.

According to unverified reports, the Colombo Telegraph learns that Gunawardena was not given his due transfer or promotion due to berating Gotabaya Rajapaksa on the witness stand during the ‘Sunday Leader‘ trial in which the then powerful Rajapaksa was a witness.

Gunawardena had reportedly ordered Rajapaksa to desist from giving irrelavant information and to ensure that he sticks within the bounds of questioning as “he was only a witness in this courtroom”

The Colombo Telegraph learns that many lawyers are opposed to Gunawardena due to his insistence on hearing and concluding cases.

“Lawyers live on dates just like the arabs. They will bring up some archaic and/or nonsensical procedure and are used to being granted dates at the drop of a hat. Moment you have a Judge who wants to hear the case they all get intimidated. Some lawyers come to court only to move for a date not knowing head or tale of the case, but I am told that this man (Gunawardena )doesn’t give in to that kind of rubbish” another senior legal practitioner told Colombo Telegraph upon inquiry.

“A few decades ago a courtroom was a spectacle. Lawyers and the Judges always stood to ensure swift justice. That is why we saw members of the public throng to court houses for trials. It was a clash of intellect, wit and wisdom. Sadly today court houses are a bore and people have lost faith in the system because of two things. The non-independence of judges, and the laws delays. If we have an independent judiciary supplemented with judges and lawyers who want swift and proper justice the court rooms will win back the confidence and trust of the people” he said.

The Colombo Telegraph attempted to persuade the publishing of names of the two Senior Counsel, but they politely insisted on anonymity due to “professional reasons”.

A chairman in the Good Governance demands a Benz

Wednesday, 25 March 2015 

Lanka News Web posses’ information’s of a chairman in the state organization demanding a Mercedes Benz in order to serve the people in the new Good Governance.

This weird chairman is found in the National Science Foundation under ministry of Technology and Research. All these years this position was filled by doctors who had knowledge in science but following the
Rajapaksa regime this position was given to a lawyer named Mohamed Iqbal who is more than 70 years.

This chairman has urgently demanded S 500 Mercedes in order for him to start his work. The market price of this car is around Rs. 50 million.

When the senior officers inquired why he is demanding a Benz car the chairman has said since there are foreigners often visiting this institution it is good to have a Benz car to their visibility. The officials are questioning is the chairman convene meetings inside the car.

From the attitude of this chairman it is learnt how can the new government achieve good governance when it continues to keep unsuitable public servants to remain in their positions and give new positions to unqualified people?

Angolan journalist faces further charges over blood diamonds claims

Prosecutors bring another 15 charges against Rafael Marques de Morais, and supporters scuffle with police outside court

 Police disperse a group of supporters of Rafael Marques de Morais outside court in Luanda. Photograph: Estelle Maussion/AFP/Getty Images

Sam Jones-Wednesday 25 March 2015

The defamation trial of a prominent Angolan journalist who has accused a group of generals and company executives of involvement in brutality and human rights abuses in the country’s diamond mines has been adjourned after the prosecution announced a slew of additional charges against him.

Rafael Marques de Morais, 43, had been due to face nine charges of criminal defamation when he appeared in court in the Angolan capital, Luanda, on Tuesday morning.

But after a long delay, his lawyers were told that he now faced a further 15 libel charges arising from the publication of his 2012 book, Blood Diamonds: Corruption and Torture in Angola, which detailed more than 100 killings and hundreds of cases of torture carried out by security guards and members of the Angolan army against local people and small-scale miners in the diamond fields of the Cuango region.

Following disclosure of the new charges, Marques tweeted: “I went to court today facing nine charges of criminal defamation. I left slapped with up to 15 additional ones for defamation. Speechless!”

The judge’s decision to hold proceedings in camera – behind closed doors, with the press and public excluded – prompted scuffles outside the court between the journalist’s supporters and police, according to Agence France-Presse. It said several protesters, some of whom carried placards and shouted slogans such as “Free Rafael” and “Jail the generals”, were arrested.

After a day of legal argument, the judge adjourned the case until 23 April to give Marques’s lawyers time to prepare their case in light of the new charges. If found guilty, he could face nine years in prison and a libel bill for £800,000.

Marques has alleged that the generals and company directors were complicit in the violence because they were profiting from blood diamonds and did nothing to stop the bloodshed. 

His decision to file criminal complaints against the generals for their “moral responsibility” in the affair led them and their associates to bring a libel suit against Marques in Portugal, Angola’s former colonial ruler. The Lisbon public prosecution office, however, dismissed the case two years ago because of lack of evidence.

The generals and their fellow complainants are now pursuing the journalist through the Angolan courts.

When Marques and his counsel arrived in court on Tuesday, they were told that the new charges related not to the complaints he filed against the generals and executives, but to allegations made in his book.

Marques, who has run his investigative website Maka Angola from his tiny kitchen for seven years, has been imprisoned before for branding Angola’s president, José Eduardo dos Santos, a dictator. Marques spent 43 days locked up without charge in 1999, going for days at a time without food or water in solitary confinement. 

The journalist has described the legal situation as “Kafkasesque”. In a speech last week as joint winner of the Index on Censorship’s freedom of expression in journalism award, Marques said the trial would make him stronger.

He later told the Observer: “It will show Angolans there is nothing to fear and challenge them to hold the authorities to account.”

Exclusive: Saudi Arabia building up military near Yemen border - U.S. officials

BY MARK HOSENBALL, PHIL STEWART AND MATT SPETALNICK-Tue Mar 24, 2015

(Reuters) - Saudi Arabia is moving heavy military equipment including artillery to areas near its border with Yemen, U.S. officials said on Tuesday, raising the risk that the Middle East’s top oil power will be drawn into the worsening Yemeni conflict.

The buildup follows a southward advance by Iranian-backed Houthi Shi'ite militants who took control of the capital Sanaa in September and seized the central city of Taiz at the weekend as they move closer to the new southern base of U.S.-supported President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.

The slide toward war in Yemen has made the country a crucial front in Saudi Arabia's region-wide rivalry with Iran, which Riyadh accuses of sowing sectarian strife through its support for the Houthis.

The conflict risks spiraling into a proxy war with Shi'ite Iran backing the Houthis, whose leaders adhere to the Zaydi sect of Shi'ite Islam, and Saudi Arabia and the other regional Sunni Muslim monarchies backing Hadi.

The armor and artillery being moved by Saudi Arabia could be used for offensive or defensive purposes, two U.S. government sources said. Two other U.S. officials said the build-up appeared to be defensive.

One U.S. government source described the size of the Saudi buildup on Yemen's border as "significant" and said the Saudis could be preparing air strikes to defend Hadi if the Houthis attack his refuge in the southern seaport of Aden.

Another U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Washington had acquired intelligence about the Saudi build-up. But there was no immediate word on the precise location near the border or the exact size of the force deployed.

Hadi, who supported Washington’s campaign of deadly drone strikes on a powerful al Qaeda branch based in Yemen, has been holed up in Aden with his loyalist forces since he fled Sanaa in February. On Tuesday, forces loyal to Hadi drove Houthi fighters from two towns they had seized hours earlier, residents said, apparently checking an advance by the Shi'ite fighters toward Aden.

SAUDIS "DEEPLY CONCERNED"

Saudi Arabia faces the risk of the turmoil spilling across its porous 1,800 km (1,100 mile)-long border with Yemen and into its Shi'ite Eastern Province where the kingdom's richest oil deposits lie.

“The Saudis are just really deeply concerned about what they see as an Iranian stronghold in a failed state along their border,” U.S. Ambassador to Yemen Matthew Tueller told Reuters on Monday at a conference hosted by the National U.S.-Arab Chamber of Commerce in Washington.

But a former senior U.S. official, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said the prospects for successful external intervention in Yemen appeared slim. He said Hadi’s prospects appeared to be worsening and that for now he was “pretty well pinned down.”

Riyadh hosted top-level talks with Gulf Arab neighbors on Saturday that backed Hadi as Yemen's legitimate president and offered "all efforts" to preserve the country's stability.

Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal said on Monday Arab countries would take necessary measures to protect the region against "aggression" by the Houthi movement if a peaceful solution could not be found.

In March 2011, Saudi troops, along with those from the United Arab Emirates, entered neighboring Bahrain after weeks of protests by that country’s Shi’ite majority that Riyadh feared could lead to an expansion of Iran’s influence.

A spokesman for the Saudi embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment on any military movements.

Yemen asked the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday to back military action by "willing countries" to combat Houthi militias, according to a letter from Hadi seen by Reuters.

Hadi wants the 15-member body to adopt a resolution that would authorize "willing countries that wish to help Yemen to provide immediate support for the legitimate authority by all means and measures to protect Yemen and deter the Houthi aggression."

Fighting has spread across the Arabian peninsula country since last September when the Houthis seized Sanaa and advanced into Sunni Muslim areas.

U.S. officials said on Saturday that the United States had evacuated all its remaining personnel in Yemen, including about 100 special operations forces, because of the security situation. The end of a U.S. security presence inside the country has dealt a blow to Washington's ability to monitor and fight al Qaeda's Yemen affiliate.

The Houthis have denied taking material and financial support from Tehran. But last year Yemeni, Western and Iranian sources gave Reuters details of Iranian military and financial support to the Houthis before and after their takeover of Sanaa last year.

However, U.S. officials have said that Iranian backing for the Houthi rebels has been largely limited to funding. They say Iran has its hands full providing armed assistance to its allies in Syria and Iraq.

(Additional reporting by Warren Strobel; Editing by Jason Szep and Stuart Grudgings)

Yemen’s embattled president flees stronghold as rebels advance

Houthi fighters ride a patrol truck in Sanaa March 25. Houthi forces in Yemen backed by allied army units seized a key air base on Wednesday and appeared poised to capture the southern port of Aden from defenders loyal to President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, local residents said. (Khaled Abdullah/Reuters)

By Ali al-Mujahed and Brian Murphy-March 25 at 7:07 AM

SANAA, Yemen — Yemen’s embattled president was pushed deeper into crisis Wednesday after fleeing a last-ditch refuge as advancing Shiite rebels seized a key air base to add another prize to their expanding territory.

The whereabouts of Western-allied President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi was not immediately clear.

But any further disintegration of Hadi’s power would tip Yemen closertoward a civil war involving various factions, including a powerful branch of al-Qaeda. Yemen also offers a potential proxy battlefield for the wider regional rivalries between Shiite power Iran and the Gulf Arab states backed by Washington.

Senior security officials told The Washington Post that Hadi had left his residence in Aden, the country’s second-largest city, where his government sought a foothold after being driven from the capital, Sanaa, by the Houthi rebels believed backed by Iran.

[Who are the Houthis?]

Yemen’s foreign minister, Riyadh Yaseen, told Al Jazeera from Egypt that Hadi was in “secure” place in Aden.

But Hadi’s precise location remained in doubt even as Houthi-controlled state television said a nearly $100,000 bounty was offered for the president’s capture.

Some members of Hadi’s inner circle, meanwhile, appeared to run out of room. Rebels said they had captured the country’s defense minister and a top aide near Aden.

The security officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief journalists.

[ Yemen’s collapse also sinks U.S. counterterrorism strategy]

Hadi’s government has appealed for military intervention from the gulf’s military alliance, which is anchored by neighboring Saudi Arabia, and has called on the United Nations to authorize foreign armed forces to enter Yemen.

But gulf states have given no signals of plans for an immediate mobilization to aid Hadi, and the last units of U.S. and British commandos have been pulled from Yemen amid the widening instability.

The unraveling of Hadi’s power over the past months dealt a significant blow to U.S.-led efforts to wage drone attacks and other pinpoint strikes against suspected strongholds of the Yemen-based branch of al-Qaeda, which is considered among the terror group’s most active networks.

Meanwhile, the Houthi rebels — seen as foes of al-Qaeda — have claimed increasing territory since taking control of the capital in January. Hadi’s government, backed by loyalist forces, relocated to the southern port of Aden.

The security officials said Hadi fled his compound just hours after the rebels announced they had taken the important al-Anad airbase, located less than 20 miles from Aden. The airfield was once a main link in the U.S.-directed drone missions against al-Qaeda.

Last week, suicide bombers killed at least 137 people at two Shiite mosques in Sanaa linked to the Houthi rebels.

Murphy reported from Washington.

Selling Crude to Los Imperialistas

Venezuela's president Nicolás Maduro blames Washington for all his problems. But that doesn't mean he can turn off the oil tap any time soon.

BY PETER WILSON-MARCH 24, 2015

RACAS — Every other day a broad-hulled supertanker docks at the Venezuelan state oil company’s deep-water sea terminal at José in the state of Anzoategui. The ship loads up on crude oil en route to an unlikely destination: the South American country’s No. 1 enemy, the United States of America.

Washington and Caracas have been engaging in tit-for-tat insults and sanctions over recent weeks, with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro accusing U.S. President Barack Obama of plotting to overthrow his government. But behind the fiery rhetoric is a more complex reality: The United States and Venezuela have a commercial relationship that Maduro cannot afford to sever.

Selling Crude to Los Imperialistas by Thavam Ratna

India hopes to pass GST in second part of budget session: Jaitley

A staff member (L) passes a pen to the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley before making the final touches to the budget 2015/16 in New Delhi February 27, 2015.

Wed Mar 25, 2015

(Reuters) - India hopes to pass a national Goods and Services Tax (GST) in the second half of parliament's budget session, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Wednesday.

Parliament's budget session is currently under recess and will resume on April 20.

Investors and manufacturers have long advocated the GST as a way to simplify taxes while broadening the tax base, adding as much as 2 percentage points to economic growth in Asia's third-largest economy.

(Reporting by Manoj Kumar; Editing by Malini Menon)

And President Obama got it wrong

by Osita Ebiem

( March 24, 2015, New York City, Sri Lanka Guardian) Nigeria is going to the polls to elect a president in less than one week. Understandably, there is a high level of apprehension, hence President Obama’s intervention in calling for a fair and peaceful election. This fear has remained a permanent feature in Nigeria since the inception of the country fifty something years ago. The country has never been a united country. It is a forced marriage of incongruent peoples with irreconcilable cultural and religious differences. The fear of disintegration remains a permanent scepter that continues to pervade and dog every social fabric and all events of nationwide proportion. The truth is that one (united) Nigeria is a fluke while a divided Nigeria is more realistic.

In less than ten years after its independence from the British in October 1, 1960 Nigeria descended into a bloody war of genocide and ethnic cleansing of its Igbo population. The war was fought along ethnic/religious divide. It was known as Biafra-Nigeria war or Biafra War. Before the war began in 1967 there was a pogrom. The Nigerian government in the year preceding the war directly through its military, paramilitary establishments and a mobilized citizenry carried out the mass murder of a section of its citizens; the Igbo population and the other easterners. In this 1966 massacre more than 100,000 Igbo people and some other easterners were killed. They were killed simply for who they are and not for any crimes committed by them.

The massacre forced the people to embark on the quest for self-determination and independence since they had been driven out of every part of Nigeria back to their ancestral homeland. They determined that since they were no longer accepted in Nigeria and their safety was no longer guaranteed by the Nigerian government therefore they should be able to find safety and a home within their own place. So they seceded and declared their homeland, the former Eastern Region independent from Nigeria and called the new country Republic of Biafra. The ethnic people that made up the majority of the new country are the Igbo. And they were the people that the other Nigerians wanted to exterminate from the face of the Earth.

Unfortunately, Nigeria declared a war of aggression against Biafra after their secession. But it was actually something like swiping a fly with a sledge hammer because the Nigerian government was armed to the teeth and well supplied with weapons by the British government of Prime Minister Harold Wilson and the USSR. Biafrans were practically unarmed and only fought back because they were faced with imminent total annihilation.

Nigeria went into the war with a central slogan – “To keep Nigeria one is a task that must be done.” And this is the same slogan that President Obama borrowed to use in his address when he was urging Nigerians to conduct a fair and peaceful election. The President was misled by whoever that let him use that slogan. The slogan was born out of crisis, how can anyone call for peace while using a phrase that stinks of blood, hatred and destruction? The President may have meant well but he got it all wrong using the slogan. That phrase is a genocidal slogan that led to the unjust slaughter of more than 3 million Igbo people some fifty years ago.

“To keep Nigeria one is a task that must be done” was used by the Nigerian state and its citizens to commit genocide against Igbo people and the other Biafrans. For every Igbo person alive today the sound of that phrase opens up an old festering wound and it’s very painful. Igbo people will demand for an apology from President Obama for hitting them at their weakest point. For President Obama to have used that slogan it shows that he is either insensitive about a people’s pain or that he was being plain ignorant of their pain. Whichever way, the impact is the same, President Obama pricked the Igbo wound and it is only right that the President of the United States of America should correct this mistake. The President must convince the Igbo and Biafrans that he does not support genocide or any other form of crime against humanity as was committed by Nigeria against Igbo people. That slogan reminds every Igbo person about the genocide and war crime they suffered through and it does not befit the use of by any world leader, and not the President of the United States of America.

Something in the USA has to Work Right: A Non-Profit Hospital in Virginia Actually Does

by John Stanton-24.03.2015

It is easy to severely criticize the state of many things in the United States of America: the US President and Congressbowing to the demands of the national security community to exempt their $ 1 trillion (US) spending from sequestration mandates. The demise of Detroit, Michigan and another round of water shut-offs scheduled for April that will affect nearly 100,000 residents (the Detroit bankruptcy case judge’s ruled that residents have no inherent right to clean water). The geopolitical brinkmanship with Russia and China that, if pushed too far, could lead to World War III. The odious double standards applied to “leakers” of classified military and intelligence information js repulsive: former US Army general and CIA director David Petraeus gets no jail time for passing off military secrets to his lover Paula Broadwell, yet former CIA analyst John Kiriakou gets two years in federal prison.

Something in the USA Has to Work Right a Non-Profit Hospital in Virginia Actually Does by Thavam Ratna

To be or not to be gay – Frangipani and the travails of homosexuals in Sri Lanka

• by Channa Wickremesekera 
 
• - on 03/25/2015 

Years ago, when only heterosexuality was legal in Australia men or women having sex with members of their own gender was a serious offence. Underpinning the law was a gamut of attitudes that cast homosexuals in the guise of abnormal, unnatural and depraved predators who deserved contempt at best and death at worst. Today there is no law against two consenting adults of the same sex doing whatever they like with each other. Increasing commercialisation of sexuality has seen to that. Growing urbanisation has also created fragmented communities which make it easier for gay people to survive, and thrive. You do not know and care whether your neighbour is gay, bi or not and if your neighbour doesn’t care it is easier for you to bear the news of your son’s or daughter’s sexuality.  And if your parents are too fussed you can move out live with your partner or by yourself and nobody will bother. It is even cool to be gay in some parts of the city and indeed a whole sub-culture and sub economy has been created around homosexuality. But the stigma still remains in some circles. Many gay men and women still feel compelled to seek their pleasures in the closet for personal and social reasons. In country towns, where neighbours still care and it is hard to move very far, young men still kill themselves, unable to be themselves. And everywhere, gays still cannot marry other gays. But progress has been made. In mainstream Australia fag hating is not cool anymore. And you can go to jail for bashing them.

Contemporary Sri Lanka is a world removed from this, in many ways. Like everywhere else, there are homosexuals in Sri Lanka because Sri Lankans too are human.  But it is a very private affair at best and an agonising secret at worst, not necessarily because there is a law against it but also because the stigma borne by homosexuality is so great that it requires extraordinary courage to go against it. If a man or woman can’t get out of his or her ‘bad habits,’ society expects them to do their business in private without invoking the wrath of the law and the ‘normal’ people. Even doing the business in private is often denied to those who live in rural communities, were the public glare is intense and the private and public spaces often mesh imperceptibly.

Visakesa Chandrasekaram’s movie Frangipani which I had the pleasure of watching in Melbourne recently, tells the story of two young homosexual men in Sri Lanka who struggle to deal with the stigma attached to their sexuality. Chamath, a young man who dreams of becoming a fashion designer is beginning to feel that he has different desires from other men, a conflict that is cleverly depicted by Chamath’s hesitant hand with red fingernails on his friend Sarasi’s heaving breast. When Nalin, a young welder visits his hometown for work, the two find themselves attracted to each other. But like any other affair unsanctioned by society, they find it necessary to show their affections for each other in the confines of their limited private space. Chamath envisages a life together for the two but Nalin is prepared to suppress his desires to further his career as a businessman while maintaining contact with Chamath. Heartbroken, Chamath moves to the city where he is able to follow his dream but not his love while Nalin is struck in a mechanical and unfulfilling marriage, seeking satisfaction in fleeting encounters on the beach or in a dark alley. Circumstances finally bring them together several years later but one feels the tension between them has not been fully resolved.

Through Frangipani, a Sri Lankan movie maker has dared to deal with the issue of homosexuality in Sri Lanka for the first time. Homosexual characters have appeared in Sinhala movies before but to the best of my knowledge this is the first time that the issue itself has been tackled, boldly, using some confronting scenes. Through the challenges faced by Nalin and Chamath, Chandrasekaran demonstrates the complexity of the struggle of homosexuals in Sri Lanka. It is too taboo a subject for anybody to discuss the ‘love that dares not speak its name’ but the unspoken disapproval is palpable.  It is conveyed in the innuendo and the knowing glances. We are given a glimpse of what is expected of a male – to get married, have a family and take the family line forward. If you do not get married, no one takes you seriously, Chamath’s mother admonishes him, an oblique reference to the aura of masculinity that surrounds the married man with children.  Chamath’s older brother’s stark glares burn with the contempt for someone who is perceived as less than a man and in a fit of rage he brands him a ‘ponnaya’ or a faggot, perhaps the ultimate insult to a Sri Lankan male and reflective of the perceptions associated with homosexuality. The family’s attempt to drive away the evil spirits that haunt him through a ‘thovilaya’ is also revealing. Not conforming means social ostracism and perhaps economic ruin.  As his monk-brother tells Chamath, staying in the village is out of the question once his sexuality is revealed. At the end there is a glimmer of acceptance of the inevitable but not approval. The priest responds with a half smile to a picture of Chamath in drag and asks cheekily if it is the lady who visited the hospital the previous night, with the air of someone who concedes without condoning. One feels that Chamath may have gained the highest concession possible from a society that struggles to come to terms with behaviour that militates against long-held beliefs and perceptions.

The pressures on the two young men, whilst revealing deeply rooted prejudices, also point to a network of social and economic relationships and their underlying values that set limits to what individuals can desire. Getting married, having children, inheriting, acquiring and looking after property is the way society functions and moves forward. Those who turn their back on this are deviants. One can only inhabit that world by conforming. Chamath escapes the restrictions only because an alternative is available in the city where homosexuality can be fashionable and even marketable in some circles. But that comes at a price, as, despite the tacit acceptance of the priest, we feel that Chamath has lost something of his former life forever. For the orphaned Nalin, the temptations of conformity are great. He succumbs to them, choosing financial stability and social acceptance over love. But that too comes at a price, the loss of sexual freedom and happiness.

The vast majority of homosexuals in Sri Lanka, one feels, are like Nalin: conformists, as they do not have the alternative lifestyle and community networks to support them. They live their lives like heterosexuals, locking away their desires somewhere deep and perhaps even live successful lives with careers and families. Perhaps they become victims of prejudice to the extent that they even embrace them. It is interesting that Nalin himself harbours prejudices against men who wear glitter and dress like women. Unlike Chamath who appears remarkably liberated from the prejudices of his old world he is still a victim of its norms of masculinity.

The movie also reminds us that the expectations that circumscribes the independence of homosexual men also traps women within their tentacles. Chamath’s childhood friend Sarasi is expected to get married and raise a family, like every good Sri Lankan girl. Her hopes of being saved from an arranged marriage by Chamath are dashed when Chamath falls in love with Nalin and she reacts with the venom of a jilted lover. One feels that her advances to Nalin are an expression of helplessness as well as her desire to get back at Chamath rather than genuine affection. Her fate is that of countless women who are forced by social expectations into loveless marriages, waiting up for her husband to return from his true love that he can only meet fleetingly in a boarding house.

Chandrasekaran also draws attention to the legal aspects of attitudes to homosexuality in Sri Lanka. At the end of the movie we are reminded that homosexuality is illegal in Sri Lanka, punishable by imprisonment up to eight years, a fact that is brought home in the movie by the police crackdown on gay men at the beach. However, I wonder if the removal of the legal barriers alone will help gay men and women live a more secure and fulfilled life in Sri Lanka. Gay people of relatively affluent families have been living their lives as gays and lesbians free from legal interventions for years. Legality has never been an issue for them even though they have not been able to live and love openly as gay people. Despite the law, the movie shows the thriving gay subculture in places like Salon Frangipani in what appears to be the heart of Colombo. The law seems to come down heavily on only those who seek their pleasures in less ‘respectable’ ways, in alleys and on the beach, the haunts of gay men who mostly come from social backgrounds where their sexuality is shunned. As long as the perceptions and attitudes that drive them to seek fulfilment in this way remain, changing the law is not likely to help much apart from making the beaches and the alleys more crowded. And as long as those attitudes remain so will the law.

In most Western and some more permissible non-western societies gay men and women are able to live their lives the way they want because they are largely free from the social and economic relationships that support a certain view of masculinity and femininity.  Especially in urban settings one does not need the approval of one’s neighbours or even one’s family to be gay and survive socially and economically. With the expansion of urban communities and the growing marketability of homosexuality, homosexuals are becoming more visible and homosexuality more permissible, and brothers, sisters, mums, dads, friends and even husbands and wives are coming out of the closet. It makes for a more vibrant and comfortable society to live in. Such privileges are currently available only to a small minority in countries like Sri Lanka where often one has to hide from oneself for fear of being branded a ‘ponnaya.’ Brave efforts like Chandrasekaram’s will, hopefully, make people in Sri Lanka sit up and think of the torture some of their brothers and sisters have to endure simply because they are different. That is if the movie is ever released in that country.