Here’s what blind prophet Baba Vanga predicted for 2016 and beyond: It’s not good

Baba Vanga gives an audience to two young followers

Marnie O’Neill-DECEMBER 9, 2015

A BLIND mystic who reportedly foretold 9/11, the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami, the Fukushima nuclear spill and the birth of ISIS also made dire predictions for 2016 and beyond.

Here’s What Blind Prophet Baba Vanga Predicted for 2016 and Beyond It’s Not Good by Thavam Ratna

Aboriginal children at residential schools often buried in unmarked graves, report reveals

Marlene Leung, CTVNews.ca-Tuesday, December 15, 2015

Aboriginal children attending residential schools died at a higher rate than school-aged children in the general population, and were often buried in unmarked graves, according to the final report from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

The commission released its final report Tuesday afternoon, marking the culmination of six years of research and interviews with more than 6,000 residential school survivors and their families.

It is estimated that more than 150,000 First Nations, Inuit and Metis children were separated from their families and forced into residential schools over much of the last century.

The final report contains an entire volume dedicated to the children who died or went missing while attending residential schools. It also sheds light on the poor practices used at the schools to record the deaths, bury the dead, and inform the students' families.

It found that the government never established health and safety standards at its residential schools, and failed to enforce what minimal standards it had in place.

This failure was due to the government's "determination" to keep residential school costs low, the report said. It also resulted in "unnecessarily high death rates" at residential schools.

Students learn how to sew at Fort Resolution Indian Residential School (St. Joseph's Convent), in Resolution, N.W.T., in this undated image. (Library and Archives Canada)

The commission found the following:

• 3,200 students died while attending residential schools from 1867 to 2000.
• For 32 per cent of these deaths, the government and the schools did not record the name of the students who died.
• For 49 per cent of these deaths, the government and the residential schools did not record the cause of death.
• For 23 per cent of these deaths, the gender of the student was not recorded.
• The majority of deaths took place before 1940. Prior to 1940, there were 1,150 deaths for which no name was provided. After 1940, there are 44 death reports that do not provide the student's name.
• Many residential schools did not send the students’ bodies back to their home communities after they died. Instead, many were buried in cemeteries that have since been abandoned and are "vulnerable to accidental disturbance."

The report noted that many aboriginal families have "unanswered questions" about what happened to their children or relatives who were forced to attend residential schools.

"The tragedy of the loss of children was compounded by the fact that burial places were distant or even unknown," the report said.

Conditions at schools

The report also contained descriptions from survivors of the living conditions at the residential schools.

According to survivors' accounts, diseases such as tuberculosis rampaged student populations, and poor medical care was provided.

Accidental deaths were common, and the report includes accounts of children dying in boating and plane accidents.

The report also noted that the poorly maintained school buildings often became fire traps. According to the report, 19 boys died in a single fire in Beauval, Sask., in 1927.

"The high death toll was partially attributable to inadequate fire escapes," the report said.

Many students also died or disappeared after attempting to run away from the residential schools, the report said.

In one account, four boys ran away from a school in Fort Albany, Ont. in 1941. The boys were presumed drowned and their bodies were never recovered, the report said.

Abandoned cemeteries

Many of the cemeteries where the students were buried have since been abandoned, the report said.

In one case, a school cemetery in Battleford, Sask., became neglected after the school closed in 1914. At the time, the school's principal warned the government that 70 to 80 individuals were buried at the cemetery, most of them students.

"He worried that unless the government took steps to care for the cemetery, it would be overrun by stray cattle," the report said.

The report highlighted a case in 2001, when water erosion of the banks of Alberta's Bow Highwood River exposed the remains of at least 34 bodies of former residential school students. The bodies were eventually exhumed and reburied in aboriginal and Christian ceremonies, the report said.

These tragic examples point to the fact that many students who went to residential schools never returned to their homes, the report said.

"Their parents were often uninformed of their sickness and death. They were buried away from their families in long-neglected graves," the report said. "No one took care to count how many died or to record where they were buried."

The report said many basic questions about missing residential school students have never been addressed by the Canadian government.

Earlier this year, Justice Murray Sinclair, who headed the commission, said that the number of students who died is likely higher; estimating that up to 6,000 children may have died while under the care of residential schools.

To clear air, Supreme Court bans sales of big diesel cars in Delhi

A worker repairs a diesel pump machine at a fuel station in Kolkata January 18, 2013.

REUTERS/RUPAK DE CHOWDHURI/FILES

 BY ADITI SHAH-Thu Dec 17, 2015

The Supreme Court has ordered a temporary ban on the sale of large diesel cars in New Delhi to combat toxic smog in the city, prompting concern in the auto sector as some carmakers say they may reconsider investment plans in the country.

According to an order passed on Wednesday, the registration of sport-utility vehicles and other diesel cars with an engine capacity of 2,000 cc or more is banned in Delhi and the surrounding region with immediate effect until March 31.

Delhi's crackdown on diesel cars has unsettled the industry, its salesmen and investors, who warn the ban and uncertainty around it could derail a tentative recovery in Indian sales and leave dealers with forecourts packed with unsold cars.

Environmental campaigners and the lawyer who brought the case to the Supreme Court, however, say they want to see the order extended beyond the capital to other smog-choked cities.

Daimler AG's Mercedes-Benz, for whom the Delhi region represents almost a quarter of sales in the country, told Reuters the diesel ban and the uncertainty around it would "severely impact" growth plans and future investment in India.

"We also have to consider the loss of jobs that this will result (in) at the dealerships, at the vendors producing diesel engines," a spokesman said in an emailed statement, adding its own workers would be affected.

TRUCK CHARGE DOUBLED

The court - which said the order would not hit India's "common man" - stopped short of banning the smaller cars that clog India's roads. But it did also prohibit trucks from passing through the city to reach other states and banned all trucks over 10 years old from the capital.

An existing charge imposed on trucks making deliveries to Delhi itself was doubled to up to 2,600 rupees ($39).

Other measures include a demand for all taxis in Delhi, mainly those operated by Uber and local rival Ola, to replace diesel with natural gas, as well as a broad, immediate ban on burning solid waste.

In January, the judges will also consider an application to levy a green tax on all diesel cars sold in the country.

Environmentalists have cheered Wednesday's moves, but analysts questioned the detail of the ban.

"The (higher truck) levy will just go back to whoever is hiring the trucks. So eventually the consumer ends up paying the levy and inhaling the gas fumes," said Deepesh Rathore, director at consultant Emerging Markets Automotive Advisors.

CLEANING UP

India's National Green Tribunal, an environmental court, last week ordered a ban on the registration of all diesel vehicles for nearly four weeks to help clean up the air in Delhi, one of the world's most polluted cities.

That triggered a share price fall among automakers which have invested heavily in diesel technology in India. The drop steepened after the Supreme Court's order.

Mahindra & Mahindra, India's top utility-vehicle maker, was one of the biggest losers with shares down 5.5 percent. It said the ban would affect roughly 2 percent of its total monthly sales.

Rivals such as Tata Motors and Toyota Motor Corp, the world's top-selling carmaker, also have popular large cars. Greater Delhi contributes 8 percent of Toyota's sales and 80 percent of vehicles sold in this region are diesel.

India's auto industry body called for a comprehensive plan, which should include a policy to remove and scrap old vehicles.

(Additional reporting by Sankalp Phartiyal; Writing by Clara Ferreira Marques; Editing by Mark Potter and Keith Weir)

Nurofen Express advertising claims probed by UK watchdog

15 December 2015

The UK's advertising watchdog is probing the marketing of Nurofen Express, after receiving complaints about its television advert.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) is examining if the advert is misleading by claiming it targets the source of headaches.

On Monday, Nurofen's maker Reckitt Benckiser defended their packaging, after an Australian court ordered certain products off shelves.

The court said it had misled consumers.

Australia's court said Nurofen's products marketed to treat specific pains, such as migraine, were identical to one another, and said that products must be taken off Australian shelves within three months.

On Monday, Nurofen defended itself by saying that the products had been "designed to help the consumer easily navigate our range", particularly in groceries where there was no pharmacy.

'Misleading'

The Nurofen Express advert, shown in early 2015, received 12 UK complaints.

The advert in question claims that "most headaches are caused by strained head muscles", and that the painkiller targets these muscles.

The ASA received 12 complaints about the advert in February and launched its investigation in March.

It said: "Complainants have challenged whether the ad is misleading because it implies that the product directly targets muscles in the head. They've also challenged whether the claim 'gives you faster headache relief than standard paracetamol or ibuprofen' is misleading."

The ASA stressed that it investigates marketing of products, not the product itself.

"The products are regulated by health regulators such as the Medicines & Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA)," the ASA added.

Swaminathan: 8,000 acres of private lands still under military

By Saman Indrajith-December 15, 2015

Prison Reforms, Rehabilitation, Resettlement and Hindu Religious Affairs Minister D. M. Swaminanthan yesterday told Parliament that about 8,000 acres of private lands were still under the control of the security forces and they would be gradually released for resettlement.

Participating in the committee stage debate on the budget proposals under the expenditure heads of the Ministry of Prison Reforms, Rehabilitation, Resettlement and Hindu Religious Affairs, Minister Swaminathan said that the government was in the process of releasing land to ensure the resettlement of IDPs and returnees where they had lived previously. 

He said that 1,000 acres of land from Jaffna, 500 acres from Kilinochchi and 1,000 acres from Sampoor, Trincomalee and other small parcels of lands had been released by the state for resettlement purposes. "Similarly, the government is committed to releasing lands gradually where military troops are stationed in the Northern and Eastern provinces to facilitate the resettlement of the displaced people."

"The government is committed to releasing remand prisoners who have been detained for long periods without any charges or for minor offences.  Already 39 remand prisoners have been given bail. The release of the other prisoners is being considered by the Attorney General’s Department. With regard to ex-combatants a total of 12,000 have been rehabilitated by the Bureau of the Commissioner General of Rehabilitation and reintegrated into the society, the Minister said.

"Various reform efforts on prisons including relocation, reducing congestion, involving detainees in development, open air prison camps, improving of infrastructure facilities, improving health conditions of prisoners and integrating the prisoners into the society are being seriously considered for implementation.  The shifting of Welikada, Badulla, Tangalle and other prisons from heavily populated, fast developing urban locations to other areas as part of the prison reforms agenda is being implemented in an accelerated manner. ICRC guidelines will be used for the design of new prisons to ensure international standards. The Bogambara Prison has been shifted to Pallekelle and the Tangalle prison is to be shifted to Angunukolapelassa by June 2016 under the reform initiative."

"The Cabinet has granted approval for undertaking a 65,000-unit housing programme with concessionary financing arrangements for the displaced families. Moreover, the Indian Government has also supported 46,000 housing units under its grant assistance programme which will be completed by the end of this year. Further, assistance has also been provided by the Government of Pakistan, Kazakhstan and Bahrain for constructing over 500 houses in the Mannar District and are in various stages of construction. Under the European Union grant programme 3,400 housing units are to be provided and livelihood and income generation support is also to be extended to the conflict affected families. The ministry undertook several relocation programmes and provided alternative accommodation to displaced families as a result of military occupation of private lands. The Keppapilavu relocation programme in the Mullaitivu District with 287 houses including infrastructure facilities is an example of Relocation Programme and has been implemented."

Systematic enforced disappearances, an international crime, says Boyle

[TamilNet, Monday, 14 December 2015, 23:21 GMT]
Noting the re-emerging threat of white van abductions and enforced disappearances in the historic homeland, the NorthEast, of Eezham Tamils, Professor Francis Boyle, an expert in international law, said that systematic enforced disappearances is a crime against humanity under the Rome Statute, and in Sri Lanka this criminality of the Government of Sri Lanka is "an indicium of genocide against the Eelam Tamils." Boyle noted, as evidence of his concern, the recent incident in Jaffna where Colombo's military intelligence operatives threatened the editors of a local newspaper that they would have to face the "white van" if the paper failed to retract a published story on missing persons. 

"When the enforced disappearances of human beings become either widespread or systematic, they become a Crime against Humanity under the Rome Statute for the International Criminal Court. In the case of Sri Lanka, its enforced disappearances of Eelam Tamils was both widespread and systematic and thus constitutes a Crime against Humanity. 

"It also constitutes ongoing international criminal activity by the GOSL unless and until the victims have been accounted for. Furthermore, this GOSL Crime against Humanity is an indicia of threatened and ongoing genocide against the Eelam Tamils," Boyle said in his comment to TamilNet.

A three-member delegation of the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID), visited Sri Lanka last month to investigate disappearances of civilians during the country’s three-decade civil war. It found that successive governments systematically employed military and paramilitary forces to abduct, torture and ultimately disappear civilians, political opponents and journalists—irrespective of the ethnicity of the target, World Socialist said in its website.

"WGEID’s first visit in October 1991 investigated and ultimately confirmed reports that state forces had engaged in enforced disappearances...The vast majority of enforced disappearances were never effectively investigated or prosecuted," Amnesty said in its coverage ahead of the visit by the UN staff.

• TAG Report: Blueprint on Sri Lanka's White Van operations

Tamils Against Genocide (TAG), a US-based rights group that seeks legal redress to war-affected Tamls, published in 2012 an operational blueprint of Sri Lanka's White Van abductions, and the complicity of State Institutions. 

The blueprint was based on affidavits from surviving abductees, a video deposition from an ex-member of Liberation Tigers who was spared execution at the last moment, information revealed from recent capture of white van abductors in the South, and other circumstantial evidence including open death threats issued by Sri Lanka's Defense Secretary, Gotabhaya Rajapakse. 

TAG concluded that the white van phenomenon is not a random occurrence of isolated events, but a systemic well-organized criminal enterprise carried out by independently operating cells consisting of criminal gangs and military personnel and activated by directives from high level State officials.

Two SL Brigadiers engage in fisticuff in public –Disgrace to country but no disciplinary action

(Lanka-e-News -15.Dec.2015, 3.30PM)   Two Sri Lankan (SL) army brigadiers  have engaged in a fisticuff in public  in a foreign country thereby tarnishing the image of Sri Lanka (SL)  . However , based on reports reaching Lanka e news inside information division , no disciplinary action had been instituted against them so far.

It is in Pakistan , Brigadier Senarath Bandara and Brigadier Duminda Keppetwalana have  most shamelessly and degradingly exchanged blows in public.

Brigadier Bandara is the military attache in the SL High Commission in Pakistan while brigadier Keppetiwalana has gone there to follow the army NDC course . During the period of the former regime , Keppetiwalana fell prey  to army’s  victimization  and was expelled .However , he was reinstated after the advent of the new government of good governance.

It is most unfortunate that these two brigadiers have physically fought before the gaze of the  public . Two high ranking officers of the army engaging in a fight in public is a violation of the army disciplinary code, and what the army commander ought to have done in such cirumstances is immediately get them down to SL and conduct a disciplinary inquiry. To the dismay of all,  however the army commander Krishantha De Silva is waiting lethargically until he receives a complaint from the High Commission.

Meanwhile the favorite henchmen, the most notorious major general Mahinda Haturusinghe and major general S.W.L Daulagala (050890) are due for retirement next month, and they have receieved the relevant documents. Daulagala was the brigade commander during the period – July 1996 who fled for dear life irresponsibly casting aside all his official responsibilities when the LTTE launched an attack on Mulaitivu camp and seized the rifles  that were in the possesion of the army for the first time in SL.

Though he deserved to be punished and deprived of his ‘stars and medals’  on that day , he was allowed to continue unhindered in the army until the day of retirement which  is 24 th January 2016. 

Mahinda Haturusinghe ‘s record is as bad or worse . He faced charges of receiving payment from the LTTE for providing information to them . Yet Gotabaya instead of sacking him , used him for his nefarious activities while molycoddling him and keeping him in service . Haturusinghe  is due for retirement on  3 rd January 2016.

---------------------------
by     (2015-12-15 10:19:25)

War crimes: FM stresses need to get at the truth

December 15, 2015, 9:43 am 

Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera has stressed the need to inquire into the alleged accountability issues during the war and punish those responsible to protect and restore the reputation of the vast majority of security forces personnel.

Minister Samaraweera was addressing the Diner’s Club of the Defence Services Command and Staff College on Sunday night. Samaraweera dealt with Sri Lanka’s present foreign policy.

The Command and Staff College, the highest seat of military learning in the country, annually trains around

150 selected mid-level officers from all three armed services and those of many countries around the world for command appointments.

The college was formed in 1998 with technical assistance from the British Army. 

Expressing the deepest appreciation for the immense sacrifices made by the security forces, the Foreign Minister said the government would fulfil its duty to ensure that the cloud that was hanging over the heads of the country’s security forces was lifted once and for all. Samaraweera said that the government would do it by adhering to the principles of good governance and the rule of law to investigate the truth and punish any wrongdoers so that the good name and professional reputation of the vast majority of security forces personnel and the armed forces as a whole could be restored. 

Quoting from Sri Lanka’s immediate post-Independence leaders, including Prime Ministers D. S. Senanayake and S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike, the Minister explained that Sri Lanka had pursued a democratic, world embracing and non-aligned foreign policy that benefited its people since Independence. Calling the period of international isolation from 2009 onwards an aberration, he said that Sri Lanka had reverted to its policy of friendship with all countries in the world. 

Discussing the interaction between domestic policy and foreign policy in the context of the Southern and Northern insurgency and terrorism, Samaraweera paid tribute to the late Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar’s belief the struggle against terrorist movements had to be conducted on the basis of respect for the sovereignty of states; strengthening rather than undermining democracy; and observing human rights law and the law of armed conflict.

Winding up his speech the Minister stressed that the end of the war had been a historic moment that needed to be grasped to ensure that the problems that have torn apart the country since Independence as resolved. He quoted a speech Minister Kadirgamar made at the Kotelawala Defence Academy in 2000 on the "Role of the soldier in a Democratic Society" where he said "…when the day comes, and I believe it will come, for the armed forces to lay down their arms because they have done their duty and won their battles, the peace that is going to be constructed, basically by civilians, will be rendered possible only if the armed forces have seen to it that in fighting the way they also respected and had regard for, and wherever possible looked after, cared for and tendered the civilians who in those difficult times were geographically on the side of the enemy. Let us never have to rue the day when we won the war, but lost the peace for which the war was fought."

Tamil Refugees In Tamil Nadu; Return To Their Native Land

By S. Sivathasan –December 15, 2015

S. Sivathasan

“Will they be thinking of their own land?
Longing for the day to see it again, or
will they dream of their Mother’s abode?
They have wept and wept;
And wept and wept again.
Now they have lost their strength,
Even to weep any more”

A century old song of Bharathy in Tamil, on the plight of Tamil expatriate labour in the cane fields of Fiji.

Urge to be Back

If the above lines that melt anybody’s heart, do not apply harshly to the condition of the Sri Lankan Tamil refugees in Tamil Nadu, the benign treatment they have received would explain. Ethnic affinity has played its part. But having run its course, it is on its way yielding to fresh compulsions. However benevolent the host is, overstaying one’s welcome for decades and beyond, needs rethinking. For thoughts of a return to their land of birth, political environment is changing with a new government in position. Ground conditions too are turning for the better.

The country will soon see a return of the prodigals. About all what conditioned their past as exiles and what impels a life reborn, one may hold with the lines of Sir Walter Scott.

“BREATHES there the man with soul so dead,
Who never to himself hath said,
‘This is my own, my native land!’
Whose heart hath ne’er within him burn’d
As home his footsteps he hath turn’d
From wandering on a foreign strand?”

Not too “foreign” and not too far one would say. To the reality of renascent lives, both governments Indian and Sri Lankan would certainly respond positively and happily.Read More

Unions’ key demands met; strike called off

PM vows to forge ahead with vital reforms

By Saman Indrajith-December 15, 2015, 9:36 am 

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe told Parliament yesterday that Rs. 2,000 out of the 10,000-rupee allowance given to the public sector employees would be added to their basic salaries with effect from the beginning of next year.

Public and private sector trade unions yesterday called off their strike scheduled for today after the government agreed to grant some of their key demands.

Making a special statement, the Prime Minister said that action would be taken to add the balance of the allowance to the basic salaries in three phases within the next year.

The addition of the allowance to basic salaries could give rise to some issues pertaining to salary anomalies and, therefore, the government would re-establish the national salary commission, said the PM.

"We expect that commission to submit a complete report on public sector salaries within six months."

The Prime Minister said the government had met various trade union leaders during the last several days and all of them had asked him to make public the government’s position with regard to their demands and he was making the statement for that purpose.

"On Jan. 08, this year we started a new journey with the objective of ridding the country of corruption and inefficiency and enabling it to forge ahead with the rest of the world. It is no easy task. There are huge challenges ahead of us. We will have to think of the common good over the personal gains. We will have to make sacrifices. We do all these to ensure a better future for this country. That was the objective of the policy statement made to parliament by President Maithripala Sirisena, the mid-term economic policy presented to Parliament by me and the budget proposals by Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake.

"I have been in power and out of power. I have been in the opposition without power. I made use of the power to build this nation. If I cannot make use of this power for that purpose I am ready to give it up. I have no intention of clinging to power at any cost. I will not take popular decisions without thinking of the future of this country. Some of our decisions may not be popular today, but someday the next generation will justify what we do today and tell the world that we did the right thing.

"The Rajapaksa regime misappropriated the monies of the EPF and ETF. We wanted to amalgamate the two funds to increase security and efficiency. But, as I once told this assembly we will maintain them as two different funds under the control of the Central Bank. We will take action to prevent anyone abusing those funds. The recruitment made to the public sector from 2005 were not regular and not according to the normal procedure. There are no funds to pay their pensions. That is a dangerous situation.

In 1963 the elderly population was 5.4 percent of the total population. That figure would be around 17.8 percent in 2031 and 27.7 percent in 2050. Life expectancy, too, has increased. In 1961, it was 61.5 years, in 2011 it was 75.3 years and this has been predicted to reach 81 years in 2050.

"Apart from that with the increased life expectancy the duration of pension payment has increased. In 1960s it was five years. Currently, it is about 15 years. It is expected to go up to 18 years in 2031 and 20 years in 2050.

As a result of this the allocation for the pensions in budget proposals has been on the rise. In 1961 the allocation made to the pensions was Rs. 83 million and it rose to Rs. 99,961 million in 2011 and is estimated to be around Rs. 4 trillion in 2050.

"The rulers with a foresight have known about the pension crisis since 1960s. Several of them including Dr. N. M. Perera have pointed this out. But there has been no genuine effort to address the problem because of petty political objectives.

The Rajapaksa regime did not look into the matter scientifically. It advanced a populist agenda and public sector recruitment was done haphazardly. It did not care about the fact that there would be no funds to pay the pensions for those who were recruited after 2005."

The Prime Minister said the government had provided the much-needed relief to the people through the budget proposals and would continue to take measures to improve public welfare. 

Withdraw Penal Code Amendment Regarding Hate Speech – TNA

( Muslim politician Asath Salley was arrested and detained under Section 2(1)(h) , now included in the bill)

15/12/2015

The Tamil National Alliance is deeply concerned about the proposed Penal Code (Amendment) Bill placed on the Order Paper of Parliament on 11 December 2015. The said Bill was placed on the Order Paper by the Minister of Justice.

The Bill seeks to introduce a new provision (Section 291C) to the Penal Code, No. 11 of 1887. A further Bill seeking to amend the Criminal Procedure Code Act, No. 15 of 1979 was also placed on the Order Paper.

We observe that the proposed Section 291C is nearly identical to Section 2(1)(h) of the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act, No. 48 of 1979 (PTA). The previous government used this very provision to target persons from the Tamil and Muslim communities and to deprive them of their freedom of speech and expression guaranteed under Article 14(1)(a) of the Constitution. We recall that Tamil journalist J.S. Tissainayagam was convicted by the High Court of Colombo and sentenced to 20 years rigorous imprisonment under Section 2(1)(h) of the PTA. We also recall that Muslim politician Asath Salley was arrested and detained under Section 2(1)(h) of the PTA. Both these persons were critical of the previous government’s policies, particularly with respect to the treatment of minority communities. These incidents and others like them prompted international condemnation of the previous government’s use of the PTA to suppress media freedom and dissent.

We therefore wish to state that we strongly oppose the Penal Code (Amendment) Bill on the grounds that it is inconsistent with Article 14(1)(a) of the Constitution, which guarantees to every citizen the fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression including publication.

The present government recently co-sponsored Resolution 30/1 adopted at the 30th session of United Nations Human Rights Council. Operative Paragraph 12 of the Resolution refers to the present government’s commitment: ‘to review and repeal the Prevention of Terrorism Act, and to replace it with anti-terrorism legislation in accordance with contemporary international best practices’. Section 291C of the Penal Code (Amendment) Bill directly contravenes this commitment.

We note that Sri Lanka is already compliant with international standards with respect to hate speech. Section 3(1) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) Act, No. 56 of 2007 provides: ‘No person shall propagate war or advocate national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence.’ Section 3(1) of the ICCPR Act reproduces Article 20 of the ICCPR, and is therefore compliant with international standards. The High Court is vested with jurisdiction to try offenders under this Act. We also recall that the Sri Lankan Supreme Court, in its Advisory Opinion in S.C. Reference No. 1 of 2008, referred to Section 3 of the ICCPR Act in the context of ‘legislative compliance’ with Article 20 of ICCPR. Therefore, there is absolutely no need to introduce new legislation on hate speech.

We accordingly call on the Government of Sri Lanka to withdraw the Penal Code (Amendment) Bill forthwith.

– Press release by TNA

Two petitions in SC against Govt. amendments to Penal Code on hate speech 

• Petitioner argues new provision replicates PTA provision leading to arrest of critics during previous administration 

By Dharisha Bastians -Wednesday, 16 December 2015

Two petitions have been filed in the Supreme Court challenging the Government’s proposed amendments to the Penal Code and the Criminal Procedure Code, criminalising hate speech on the grounds that the provisions are identical to sections of the Prevention of Terrorism Act that allowed state to arrest and detain critics, including Journalist J.S. Tissanayagam and Azath Salley.

The petition has been filed by Editor of the Sudar Oli newspaper, Arun Arokianathan, citing the Attorney General as respondent in the case.  The petitioner argues that a new offence will be brought into the Penal Code under the draft legislation, as Section 290c, which reads: Whoever, by the use of words spoken, written or intended to be read, or by signs, or by visible representation, or otherwise, intends to cause or attempts to cause or instigates or attempts to instigate, acts of violence or religious, racial or communal disharmony, or feelings of ill-will or hostility, between communities or different classes of persons or different racial or religious groups, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to two years.

The Editor in Chief of Sudar Oli argues that the new proposed provision replicates Section 2(1)(h) of the PTA.

This section of the draconian anti-terror laws were used to arrest, detain and convict Journalist Tissanayagam and politician Azath Salley. Tissanayagam was sentenced to 20 years rigorous imprisonment after his conviction under the PTA provision.

Arokianathan argues in his petition that Sri Lanka has the necessary laws to prosecute persons engaging in hate speech or inciting communal violence, under the terms of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights Act of 2007. The petitioner states that the inclusion of Section 291C into the Penal Code is inconsistent with Article 10 -relating to the freedom of religious worship - and Article 14 (1) (a) - relating to the freedom of speech - in the Sri Lankan Constitution.

The Sudar Oli Editor in his petition, appeals to the Supreme Court to declare the Bill to amend the Penal Code Section as inconsistent with Article 10 and Article 14 (1) (a) of the constitution, and communicate that declaration to the Speaker of Parliament.

Senior human rights lawyer and TNA lawmaker M.A. Sumanthiran will appear on behalf of the petitioner, Arokianathan in both cases, filed against the Penal Code amendment and the amendment to the Criminal Procedure Code, filed in the Supreme Court yesterday. 

Joint Civil Society Statement on Amendment to Penal Code Criminalizing Hate Speech

(Symbol  of anti-Muslim hate speech in Sri Lanka: BBS Gnanasara)

15/12/2015

We the under signed organizations and individuals are deeply concerned about two Bills tabled in Parliament on Friday, 11th December 2015 ostensibly to criminalize hate speech and the instigation of communal violence and disharmony. One such Bill tabled is an amendment to the Penal Code which creates the new offence of “causing of or instigating acts of violence, hostility…” which is punishable by imprisonment of up to two years. The other Bill is an amendment to the Code of Criminal Procedure which provides for the conditions necessary for the initiation of prosecutions for the new offence.

Joint Civil Society Statement on Amendment to Penal Code Criminalizing Hate Speech by Thavam Ratna

"Release Army intelligence officers as done 

to ex-LTTEers" 

2015-12-15
Family members of Army intelligence officers who were arrested and detained under the PTA in connection with the disappearance of journalist Prageeth Ekneligoda today requested the government to release their loved ones similar to the way in which ex-LTTE detainees were released.

They expressed these views at a news conference organsed by the Mawbima Wenuwen Ranawiruwo organisation which was held in Colombo.

Convener of the Organization Major Ajith Prasanna pointed out that these ex-LTTE cadres were not released solely following a judicial process but on the instructions of the President and the Prime Minister.

Therefore, he said army intelligence officers too should be released in a similar way. “Even charge sheets had been filed against these officers. The government should reveal why they were detained under the PTA. What act of terrorism did these officers commit? They had been detained for five months even without charges being brought against them,” he said, adding action should have taken against these officers based on the civil law of the country instead.

Five intelligence officers including two colonels had been detained in the last five months under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) in connection with the Ekneligoda disappearance.

He charged that the government's decision to release ex-LTTE detainees was only to satisfy the Diaspora and the TNA. “The government is releasing former LTTEers who had committed heinous crimes against the citizens of this country while arresting soldiers who had sacrificed their lives to protect the country,” he said. (Darshana Sanjeewa) - See more at: http://www.dailymirror.lk/99645/army-intelligence-officers-as-done-t#sthash.iFbYc0MX.dpuf