Chairman And Commissioner Go Head To Head At Human Rights Commission SL
August 23, 2013
The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka has recently been beset by divisions and internal battles between Human Rights Commissioner Prathiba Mahanama and the Commission Chairman and former judge, Priyantha Perera, Colombo Telegraph learns.
Justice Priyantha Perera
Dr. Mahanama who is also a lawyer and an academic continues to make statements and give media interviews on behalf of the Human Rights Commission without consultation with Chairman Perera or other members of the board. Irked at Mahanama’s conduct, the HRC Chairman has appointed Nimal Punchihewa as spokesman for the Commission. Punchihewa also functions as Chairman of the Land Reforms Commission that has legal authority to distribute state land.
Mahanama has reportedly challenged Punchihewa’s appointment on the grounds that there was no legal provision in the HRC Act to appoint spokesman. Nimal Punchihewa is a close associate of President Mahinda Rajapaksa and hails from the same area down south.
Additionally Punchihewa has also been appointed Secretary Legal, although no such position exists in the HRC Act or the cadre, while there is a permanent Secretary in the HRC. Chairman of the HRC Priyantha Perera is eager to secure another term in office through the good offices of Punchihewa, sources close to the HRC Board claim.
Meanwhile, the HRC announced last week that it would conduct a full scale inquiry into the military shooting at Ratupaswela. However, after hundreds of victims and journalists have indicated their willingness to come forward, the HRC suddenly dropped the inquiry.
It is believed that President Rajapaksa had sent a warning to HRC Chairman Perera, through Punchihewa, that the Commission should not do anything that would embarrass the Government or the Rajapaksa administration.
The Human Rights Commission has been provided extensive capacity building and training by the Commonwealth Secretariat recently in a bid to showcase Sri Lanka in a better light from a human rights perspective ahead of the CHOGM 2013. The HRC’s courageous decision to hold an inquiry into the Weliweriyaviolence was considered to be the result of some of these measures to strengthen the country’s human rights protection arm.
“Why Don’t You Like My Post?” Americans Keep It Apolitical On Facebook
By Frederica Jansz -August 22, 2013
Frederica Jansz
I became an active user of Facebook only after I migrated to America.
I had an account for a few years back in Sri Lanka, but until now I rarely had the time or the inclination to respond to posts, comments or share what was on my mind. But Facebook for me in America has turned out to be a whole new, and refreshing, experience.
I have only about a hundred “friends,” both American and Sri Lankan. But their posts are as different as salt and pepper.
Sri Lankans will immediately like and share any kind of post or video without reservation. Many of them clicked eagerly on a recent post about the son of a hated government minister who had been stabbed in the parking lot of a posh retail store in Colombo, liking and sharing the news with glee.
On the other hand, Americans seem to rarely — if ever — respond to such political posts.
When I recently posted what I thought was a very apt clip of Mindy Kaling in her refreshingly sly way critiquing the lack of representation of Asian women in Hollywood, (despite the fact that “there are literally billions of us”) my post got ONE measly like, from my Sri Lankan girl friend who now lives in Scotland! Read More
