Paris 2015 & Islamophobia – II

By Izeth Hussain –November 28, 2015

Izeth Hussain

I have already established the point that irrationality, fanaticism, intolerance, violence, murderousness are not integral to Islam. I can provide more details of course but that is not going to convince the Islamophobe. A further point to be made is that violent Muslim reactions to the Danish cartoons or theCharles Hebdo material should not be regarded as peculiar to Muslims. His Holiness the Pope made the point during his visit to Sri Lanka that if you insult someone you have to expect reactions from him. One can add of course that if the insult is to something held sacred by a human group the negative reactions will be all the more intense. We can be certain that if there are insults to a Buddha statue or a Krishna statue there will be angry reactions, probably violent, in Sri Lanka or India. It will not be so in the West if there are insults to Christ and Christianity. That is because there has been a long tradition of secularism and anti-religion in the West dating from the eighteenth century and even earlier. That is not something that we need to emulate. Most Muslims, including myself, would hold that disrespect for the sacred betrays a degree of spiritual impoverishment. We must absorb the best in the West, not the worst.

A further point to be made against Islamophobes is their propensity to double standards. They will react with much intensity to the Paris outrages but not to the drone attacks on Muslims. The Americans are well aware that in drone attacks non-combatant innocents are almost invariably killed, and certainly far more innocents are killed in drone attacks than in the Paris bombings, but all that is dismissed as incidental collateral damage. We can also be certain that in the French revenge bombings on the IS far more innocents have been killed than in the Paris bombings. I would agree that the Paris bombings can be regarded as savage and betrays something sub-human in the perpetrators. But what words are left to describe the savaging of Iraq in 2003 in which around a million innocent Iraqis were killed? Bush and Blair lied about the presence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. They lied in order to wreak racist revenge on an Arab country for 9/11. The point I am making is that Muslims can sink into savagery but so can the West. The Islamophobes can’t recognize that fact.

Islamophobia is a form of racism. As in the case of other convinced racists it will not be possible to make the Islamophobe change his views, and the best that can be done would be to bring about an enlightened understanding of what Islamic fundamentalism and the IS are all about, so that the potential harm to this society can be contained. The best article I know for this purpose is entitled Don’t give ISIS what it wants, by Stephen M. Walt, Professor of International Relations at Harvard University, which appeared about three days after the Paris bombings. He wrote that the emergence of the IS “ is symptomatic of the broader legitimacy and governance crisis in the Arab and Islamic world. It is also, however, an unfortunate response to decades(or even centuries) of Western interference in the Middle East, and especially to the policies that have taken the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in the region.Read More

Islamophobia IS Racism

Posted by: Amanj Aziz-2015/11/o5

With the rise of racist parties throughout Europe who attack people of colour*, the term ‘racism’ has been distorted to such a degree that even some of the leaders of these racist parties claim to be “anti-racist” (in the same way the leader of the Swedish Democrats, Jimmie Åkesson, has done). The increasingly hostile situation for Muslims in the West deems it necessary to clarify central concepts and ideas in racism, so that we are able to deal with this issue in the most appropriate manner.

RACE

The term ‘race’ has a shaky history of definitions. As Bethencourt points out, ‘race’ was first used as a synonym to ‘caste’.[1] Later it was used to denote noble linage in France and Italy during the late Middle Ages. During the struggles between Muslims and Christians in the Iberian Peninsula, the term ‘Race’ developed into an ethnic meaning and was applied to Muslim and Jewish people to highlight “impurity in the blood”.[2] It was later applied to African and Native Americans. The word was hence conceived in the Iberian context and at the time of the Reconquista.

Later, with the introduction of scientific racism, among which the Swedish botanist Carl von Linnaeus was one of its leading figures, the White race, Homo Europaeus were put on top while those who phenotypically differed from them were considered inferior, with black people piled at the bottom. Scientific racism was used in Sweden to establish The Swedish Eugenics Association in the year 1909. This was set up as a partnership between politicians and scientists who lobbied for a eugenic perspective on social development. In 1922, the association succeeded in establishing The State Institute of Racial Biology. In 1934, Sweden was the first country in the world (even before Nazi Germany) to implement forced sterilization of “unwanted people” in order to prevent “population degeneration”.

When we look into this notion of ‘Scientific Racism’ we find that it is not scientific at all. Race is exclusively a political and social construction, not a biological reality. Racism has been used to justify colonialism, imperialism, slavery, oppression, discrimination, stigmatization and segregation. Many of these formations of exclusion towards people of colour today are based on these historic processes of how race was utilized. Thus, we need to focus on the central discussion around racism since it affects all of us as a power structure in society. To talk about race as a social construction is not to perpetuate racism; rather it is to expose and make inequalities between Whites and Non-Whites visible, and to be able to address and deal with these inequalities.

It is important to highlight what is meant by “White”. Since race is a social construction, Whiteness is too. For instance, someone can be considered black in the UK, brown in Puerto Rico but white in Brazil. This is because whiteness is about those who pass as normal and hold positions of power in society. Unlike people of colour, they are not subject to political solutions because of their whiteness. This is precisely the reason why those who have been considered white have historically varied. Whiteness has never been a static definition. The Irish for instance were once considered as non-white and were actually called the N-word upon their migration to the US. What this demonstrates is that whiteness is not only about skin-colour, but about power. This is also the reason why Greek immigrants in the UK are considered as non-White, but in Greece considered White. This process of being categorized racially is called racialization.

There are many who find talking about race and racism problematic. They often state that they do not see hair- or skin-colour or that they do not care about culture and religion but that they only see the human. This is unfortunately a lie. As humans, we categorize people all the time; when we see each other or hear each other’s names. If we were to do a small experiment, for example, to think of a board of a multimillion pound-company, who do you see? Somali people? Pakistanis? Or Whites (men)? Why is that?

RACISM

There is often confusion about the term racism, which gets conflated with ‘racial prejudice’. They are not the same thing.

Racism is the stratification of people based on their race, religion, culture or ethnicity, where the reference group, the White, hold institutions of power. It is this group which reproduce unequal structures in society, both consciously and unconsciously. Thus, Racism is not merely hate, as many people define it as, rather racism is not racism without the aspect of power. The basic definition of racism can be summarised as:

Racism = racial prejudice + misuse of power by institutions and systems[3]

Racial prejudice is having prejudices against someone or a group of people because of their perceived race, culture, religion or ethnicity. As a Kurd, I can have prejudices against Whites, however I cannot be racist against Whites since I do not hold the power necessary to discriminate or stigmatize Whites. If I would say “All Whites are thieves”, it would not reproduce a racist notion of Whites, whereas if Whites would say, “All Kurds are thieves”, it would be racist.

So people of colour cannot be racists against Whites. This eliminates the ridiculous argument of “reverse racism”. It does not exist. This does not mean that people of colour cannot be unruly and discriminatory. What is merely being stated is that it does not qualify as racism since racism has a historicity, which is absent in the treatment of Whites by non-Whites.

Racism is often structural and institutional. It reproduces inequalities and excludes people from resources and power. For instance, in the city of Gothenburg in Sweden there are two districts, one of which is dominated by Whites, and the other one dominated by people of colour.

Climate change protests take place around the world on eve of summit

By Karla Adam-November 29

LONDON — From Melbourne to Mexico City, tens of thousands of people worldwide hit the streets this weekend for a global climate march, pressing world leaders to push for a bold international agreement at the upcoming climate summit in Paris.

The center for the demonstrations was supposed to be Paris, where nearly 150 world leaders are gathering for a U.N. global summit on climate change that kicks off Monday. But after the terrorist attacks there more than two weeks ago that killed at least 130 people, French police banned large protests.

On Sunday, they sought to enforce that ban, firing tear gas in the afternoon on an unauthorized gathering at Place de la Republique, a focal point for protests, and detaining about 100 people.

The square is also the site of an installation of “marching shoes,” made from donated shoes and meant to symbolize those banned from protesting. The Vatican sent shoes to represent Pope Francis, and U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon donated a pair of his shoes.

Beyond the streets of Paris, more than 2,400 events around the world were taking place this weekend, with demonstrators hoping to encourage world leaders to deliver a loud message to their negotiators: Do not leave Paris without a strong agreement to slash carbon emissions. The summit concludes Dec. 11.

Dozens of people were arrested Sunday in demonstrations that turned violent in Paris. The demonstrations were timed with a major UN climate change conference in the city, and were centered in an area of memorials to the recent Paris attacks. (Zoeann Murphy/The Washington Post)

The sheer number of demonstrations around the globe, including in Washington, New York and dozens of other U.S. cities, shows that there is widespread public support for action, said Sam Barratt, a spokesman for Avaaz, a global activist community that has helped to coordinate many of the marches.

“It shows it isn’t just a green issue, it’s an everyone issue,” he said.

[Global warming: The great thaw]

In Nepal, people marched alongside traffic in the streets of Kathmandu, holding signs that read “Climate Terrorism Ends Here” and “Save our Himalayas.” Organizers in New Zealand said they saw the largest climate marches to date, with about 15,000 hitting the streets in Auckland for a rally that ended with people slapping their thighs and sticking out their tongues for what they called the “People’s Climate Haka.” Undeterred by rainy weather, people in Beirut urged their government to take strong action while marching with a wide array of colorful umbrellas.

In some ways, the talks in Paris have already had a significant effect, with countries making emissions-cutting pledges ahead of the meeting. But the United Nations has said that those commitments alone are not enough to offer a reasonable chance of limiting warming to no more than 2 degrees Celsius.

[A treaty may not be enough to keep temperature rise below 2 degrees Celsius, study warns]

Protesters are calling for countries to do more to curb greenhouse-gas emissions and for wealthier nations to help fund vulnerable and poor nations in the transition to cleaner energy.

It was a message broadcast loudly by tens of thousands marching in central London, where many spoke of their disappointment with the British government for dramatically cutting support for solar and onshore wind energy in recent months.

There was a carnival atmosphere on the wet and windy streets of the British capital, with floats and vibrant costumes and the actress Emma Thompson lending star power. The thumping music came compliments of Radiohead’s Thom Yorke, who was DJing.

Sommer Birch-Skerradd, 19, a student wearing a fluffy polar bear costume, said: “We do need to keep up the global voice, to give those final pushes to make a big difference.”

The climate demonstrations in the United Kingdom were reportedly the country’s biggest to date and included many people who had planned to march in Paris this weekend.

The global interest in influencing the Paris talks “shows that there’s been a significant effort to raise awareness,” said Bob Ward, policy director for the London-based Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment.

But other causes have brought far more people to the streets than this, and he argued that the scale of the demonstrations are not proportional to the scale of the problem.

“If it was a massive meteorite hurtling towards Earth, one could imagine an urgent and radical response, nothing but coverage. Because we are dealing with something that people find difficult to grasp, party because of uncertainties and because risks are in the future and the impacts are distributed, I think people are not really as aware of what’s at stake here,” he said.

Some people said they were aware of the stakes and were even willing to venture out on unsafe streets to make their voices heard.

Walid Al-Hashef, 29, organized a march through the ancient city of Sanaa, the capital of Yemen, which has endured eight months of bombing. The march drew about 70 people, he said, and began with the singing of Yemen’s national anthem, followed by reading passages in the Koran that related to climate change. Partway through the march, he said, he had to change routes after an airstrike nearby.

Yemen suffers from frequent water shortages, and Hashef said he hoped the climate demonstrations would encourage world leaders to take action.

“We want a better future for our children,” he said.

Griff Witte in Paris contributed to this report.

 

Read more:

Climate-change warnings include rising seas and wild weather shifts. But giant flying boulders?

Greenhouse gases hit new milestone, fueling worries about climate change

Karla Adam is a reporter in the Washington Post’s London bureau. Before joining the Post in 2006, she worked as a freelancer in London for the New York Times and People magazine.

France, India to launch global solar alliance

Workers carry photovoltaic solar panels for installation in Charanka village in Patan district of Gujarat April 14, 2012.-REUTERS/AMIT DAVE/FILES

Sun Nov 29, 2015

French President Francois Hollande and India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Monday launch an international solar alliance aimed at eventually bringing clean and affordable solar energy within the reach of all.

The launch will coincide with a summit of world leaders at the start of two weeks of talks on the outskirts of Paris to seek a new global deal on curbing climate change, by shifting from fossil fuels towards renewable energy.

An Indian government statement on Sunday said there were well over 100 solar-rich countries in the tropics that could be members of the International Solar Alliance to develop clean and affordable solar energy. 

"Solar energy is a practical and efficient way to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions," it said.

Aware of the shadow cast by the failure of the 2009 Copenhagen summit, the last attempt to reach a global climate deal, the United Nations is placing as much weight on the efforts of individual governments as on an overarching U.N. agreement.

More than 180 nations have submitted national action plans, but they are not enough to achieve a goal of limiting global warming to 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial times -- the cap scientists say is essential to prevent the most devastating consequences of global warming.

India's national plan focuses on solar, saying it is expected to grow significantly. The aim is to reach capacity of 100 gigawatts by 2022, to be scaled up further in the future.

Firms such as Tata Power have invested heavily in solar as a reliable source capable of delivering power to some of India's poorest people.

(Reporting by Barbara Lewis; Editing by Andrew Bolton)

Asia Pacific leaders move towards eliminating Malaria by 2030

FILE - In this Aug. 26, 2009 photo, patients suffering from malaria lie on the beds as they are treated at a hospital in Pailin, Cambodia. More than a third of the malaria-fighting drugs tested over the past decade in Southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa were either fake or bad quality, seriously undermining efforts to combat the disease, a study said Tuesday, May 22, 2012. (AP Photo/David Longstreath, File)

by Daniel Maxwell -30th November 2015

AT the recent East Asia Summit (EAS) in Malaysia, Asia Pacific leaders took an important step towards ridding the region of a disease which threatens more than two billion people and kills nearly 50,000 people annually, with the endorsement of a detailed plan to eliminate malaria in the Asia Pacific region by 2030.

Asia Pacific Leaders Move Towards Eliminating Malaria by 2030 by Thavam Ratna

Sri Lanka’s transitional justice: Genuine move or red herring?

Sri Lankan prison officials escort Tamil journalist J. S. Tissainayagam-The award was presented to Tissa by Gwen Ifill, senior correspondent for "The PBS NewsHour."

Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera. Pic: AP.

by JS Tissainayagam -28th November 2015

SRI LANKA’S Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera met with civil society organisations (CSOs) on October 29 to discuss public consultations for setting up a transitional justice project to deal with the mass atrocities committed during the country’s civil war. Despite this seemingly democratic practice, questions remain as to whether in its implementation this project is going to shortchange the worst affected – the war’s victims.

Sri Lanka’s Transitional Justice Genuine Move or Red Herring by Thavam Ratna

Budget Allocation for Northern Rehabilitation is Totally Inadequate – R.Sampanthan

(Speech made by The Hon. Rajavarothiam Sampanthan – Leader of the Opposition)

Last journey of Senthuran-28/11/2015 

“The devastation that has occurred in the North and the East, Mr. Speaker, consequent to the war over a long period of time, is extensive – unbelievably extensive. Tens of thousands of families have been rendered destitute. They have lost all their possessions, their houses, their livelihood; all means of such livelihood, all their equipment – agricultural equipment, fishing equipment, livestock equipment. Some of them are unable to return to their residential and occupational lands. Very much needs to be done. The Hon. Minister of Finance has allocated a sum or Rs. 14,000 million for this purpose ” says TNA leader and the leader of the opposition R. Samapanthan.

Budget Allocation for Northern Rehabilitation is Totally Inadequate – R.sampanthan by Thavam Ratna

Families of the missing and disappeared protest in Jaffna

28 November 2015

Families of Tamil the missing and those who were disappeared after being detained by the Sri Lanka military protested on Saturday in Jaffna demanding all details of their possible whereabouts to be released. The protest is the latest in a series of such demonstrations on missing persons and the continued detention of Tamil political prisoners. Holding photographs of their missing children, mothers wept, urging the government to release the details of where they may be. Last week a Tamil family that had 'disappeared' after surrendering to the Sri Lankan military in May 2009 was released after being in custody for more than six years. See more here. Earlier this month, the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances  (UN WGEID) announced that it had discovered a “secret underground detention cum torture center” located in Sri Lanka and called on the government to reveal the existence of other such centers if any existed. See more here.

HRC SL Calls for Release of PTA Detainees In Custody for Long Years

28/11/2015

Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka has called for the immediate release of those held in detention or remand for a long period of time without charges and against whom there is no credible evidence under PTA. The Commission has further called upon the Attorney General to review the cases of those indicted and to withdraw those cases which are solely based on confessions made to Police officers, cases where no credible evidence exist and cases which are relatively minor.

The press release is reproduced below.

Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka : PRESS COMMUNIQUE

The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka has written to the Honourable Attorney General Mr. Y.J. W. Wijayatilake, PC conveying to him its grave concern about the rights of the detainees and remandees under the Prevention of Terrorism Act and the Emergency Regulations, and called upon him to take necessary measures to ensure the protection of the rights of these detainees and remandees.

The Commission has called for the immediate release of those held in detention or remand for a long period of time without charges and against whom there is no credible evidence. The Commission has further called upon the Attorney General to review the cases of those indicted and to withdraw those cases which are solely based on confessions made to Police officers, cases where no credible evidence exist and cases which are relatively minor.

In respect of accused indicted under the PTA and Emergency Regulations against whom there is credible evidence but who have been in detention and/or remand for long periods of time the Commission has expressed its view that arrangements should be made to release such persons on bail immediately.

The Human Rights Commission has also communicated to the Attorney General its concerns about the rehabilitation process to which detainees and remandees will reportedly be subjected.

The Commission has shared these concerns with the Attorney General in the hope it will be able to engage in dialogue with, and extend its support to, the Attorney-General’s Department in order to seek an urgent resolution to this critical issue. The Commission views prolonged administrative detention or remand of persons as a serious violation of the fundamental rights guaranteed to them under Articles 12 and 13 of the Constitution of Sri Lanka as well as under Sri Lanka’s human rights obligations under international law

Accountability, Democratic governance, HRCSL, Human Rights, Political prisoners, PTA, rule of law, Sri Lanka,Tamil rights

Adopting A Province: Impactful Devolution & Growth

By Lal Keerthie Fernando –November 27, 2015

Lal Keerthie Fernando

Two political parties had decided to do the ”Tango”: three persons proposed an idea, and others, accepted it as a good idea. They are now doing a political Tango. Ideas are relevant for compromise; vision, remains a guidance to force an exit of what was defunct and hopeless over the years.

It is the demand for compromise and laying standards has now come to be the norm. Reconciliation is a part and parcel of that. At this stage: Development and a compromise, is the talk of the day, everywhere. Why not do another Tango?

Over the years, SL foreign policy continued to dialog for bi-lateral and multi-lateral aid programmes. Bi-lateral programmes, especially from the west carried with them groups of NGOs who remained, doing the good or the worse. There was a free hand given in their selection and on their activities. Classification of the NGOs at that level was defunct and their activities not scrutinised. Many of the programmes of the latter also had the guest countries private sector participation; they too were equally not tolerable and un-answerable to none, owing to their dependence of state funds and pomp from the guest states as donors. They would pick and choose a country, pack and run away, un-noticed during crisis. Their presence was dictated, infact NGOs as well by the donor countries foreign policy. This irrefutable policies had a strong impact on sl during the crisis: None uttered the good side of SL when making profits, while ours very own said nothing about their good side either, in and out of parliament. Doing business in silence? What for?

With vision for development all being laid, what is now required is the presence of new participants. This has to be the new group in participatory development at private level; sort of joint venturists, the latter is here to stay. Previously, it was a mandate from the government and its favourites, chose the guest country for development or projects in their areas. Although, this method reflected selfish gains, especially, politically, it certainly deprived other areas in provinces etc. of its share of the cake. Heavy infrastructural projects carried weight ignoring development at the periphery.

Problem was that it was the hierarchy in Colombo deciding where investments ought to proceed. To add much to surprises, private investments, especially from abroad had to fall in line with such decisions. This again deprived the provinces, although, majority politicians were from far away places. The inequality in disbursements in investments will have to be replaced, thereby, promoting governments vision for fair play and equity which is now more needed. The present governments appointment of a Ministerial portfolio for “Wayamba” has set some precedence for acceptance, the need of the hour based on difference. Other provinces too could easily have strong leadership earmarked for development and investment happenings than politics alone. This again paves the way for devolution and management at the periphery.Read More

Commonwealth elects first woman Secretary 

General

2015-11-28
Baroness Patricia Scotland from the UK was elected secretary general of the Commonwealth at the Commonwealth summit in Malta by leaders of the 53-nation bloc. 

She was one of three contenders for the post and will officially take office in April next year as the sixth Commonwealth secretary general. 

Born in Dominica, the 60-year-old, is a former attorney general in Britain and will be the first woman to occupy the post. 

Ms. Scotland and the other contender, Mmasekgoa Masire-Mwamba from Botswana, are the only two women to have ever contested the Commonwealth’s top post. The third candidate was Sir Ronald Sanders from Antigua and Barbuda. 

The election took longer than expected with sources describing a hot contest between the two women. 

Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said after a "thorough discussion" Baroness Scotland enjoyed "unanimous support". 

In her first comments she said it was "a huge privilege" to occupy an important role. 

"The 53 countries have within them the ability and capacity to create something the world desperately needs," she said. (Times of Malta)

The need for ‘hard’ questioning of the state

Sunday, November 29, 2015

Even with all the crestfallen realism which now informs the public mood close upon one year into the classic curate’s egg performance of the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe government, there is some cause for optimism.
‘Hard’ questions of democratic governance are forcefully and publicly interrogated as opposed to earlier discussions which took place in elite circles with little impact on national debate.

Exposing the ugliness
One of these excruciating questions concerns the role and performance of the Office of the Attorney General. Increasingly impatient with theoretical pontifications, the focus now is rather on the accountability of the Office. This is particularly so in the wake of public conflicts between senior officers of the Department as to whether or not to prosecute Avant Garde, the controversial maritime security company.

This week we are informed that the corrupt tentacles of this company reach not only across the political divide but also include journalists on its payroll. It may be good if the bandage on this festering wound is just ruthlessly stripped away to let the public take precise stock of the ugly nature of gargantuan profiteering.

That apart, those preoccupied with disputes concerning the transparency of the Attorney General’s Office may take heart from the fact that similar perplexing questions are being discussed in the region. For instance, the role and function of the Attorney General of India (AGI) in regard to the Indian Right to Information (RTI) law is now gripping public interest across the Palk Strait with the judiciary itself indicating different opinions on the matter. Interestingly enough, this has surfaced as a result of efforts by the AGI to claim exemptions from the reach of the RTI law following an application filed in the public interest.

The role of the AGI and RTI
Ruling on the dispute initially, the Indian Central Information Commission (CIC), which oversees the performance of state authorities under the RTI law, held that the AGI is a lawyer for the State and was therefore not covered by RTI. On appeal to the High Court, this stand was contested on two distinct points. First, that the office of the AGI is established by virtue of Article 76 of the Constitution of India and that the AGI is therefore answerable to the people of India. Second, that the right to information is a fundamental right under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution of India. Consequently the RTI Act must be interpreted in furtherance of that right.

Upholding the appeal, a single judge Bench of the Delhi High reversed the decision of the CIC this year, affirming that the AGI is a ‘constitutional authority’ and discharges public functions. The Court took pains to emphasize the fact that the AGI is not only a constitutional functionary but is also an ‘authority’ in that it is an office that is conferred with statutory and constitutional power. Writing for the Court, Vibhu Bhakru J in an admirably reasoned order, pointed out that ‘merely because the bulk of the duties of the AGI are advisory, the same would not render the office of the AGI any less authoritative than other constitutional functionaries.’ The expression “authority” in the Indian RTI law cannot be read as a term to exclude bodies or entities which perform advisory functions. Whatever exceptions claimed by the AGI relating to legal opinions delivered to the government and so on must be covered under general exceptions to the RTI law. Special privileges cannot be allowed.

Immediately challenged by the Central Government, a Divisional Bench of the same Court stayed the operation of the order and fixed the matter for further consideration. The dispute has led to intense public debate between legal practitioners, judges and RTI activists. Disconcertingly, this is in the context of formidable challenges currently posed to the Indian RTI movement including what are alleged to be politically partisan appointments to the Information Commissions. For long a powerful advocate of RTI as a peoples’ tool, India is now facing the undermining of that very movement from within.

The accountability of the AG
These are discussions that are relevant for Sri Lanka as the country anxiously expects the tabling of its own and long promised RTI Bill in Parliament. It is a matter of general principle that no one Department of the State can claim blanket immunity from the public right to know. There can be little debate about that.

Other misapprehensions persist. Foremost among these is that the Attorney General is immune from legal review. This is not the position of the law at all. Traditionally, this discretion has been reviewed only in exceptional circumstances. But this old principle of judicial non-interference in the English law has long since yielded to harsher scrutiny of prosecutorial authorities. Thus if the state law officer acts in abuse of the legal process or behaves oppressively, the court would intervene. In Canada, expert committees are set up to lay down guidelines for the exercise of prosecutorial discretion.

Sri Lankan judges have asserted that judicial review of prosecutorial discretion exists where the evidence is plainly insufficient to justify that decision. The decision to indict or not to indict must be taken reasonably and not arbitrarily. Applying theory to practice therefore, the AG’s failure to indict in the Avant Garde case is legally challengeable. It however needs a court that is both courageous and possessed of considerable jurisprudential capacity to respond. This is the core concern that Sri Lanka currently faces whether in regard to addressing corruption or war time accountability.

Looking back honestly at past failures

Regardless, we need to see informed and measured debates on the role of the Attorney General, not only in regard to the contemplated RTI law but also in general. We have the Bar Association issuing warnings about the ill wisdom of summoning senior state law officers before Parliament. On the other hand, ruling parliamentarians wax eloquent that Parliament is supreme and can summon any official. But verbal duels of sound and fury signifying precious little and with character assassination thrown in for greater crudity do not help
Evaluation of the performance of the Attorney General must be part of solid institutional reform, looking back honestly enough at past monumental failures of justice. Without such ‘hard’ questioning, all the progressive laws in the world will certainly not help us.