Ranil openly denounces MaRa–Tiran conspiracy to make Fonseka an external prisoner

Media freedom is not the freedom of the media personnel to dance as they want says Ranil

(Lanka-e-News-24.May.2012, 11.55PM) The opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe when addressing the former UNP MP’s circle at the Sri Kotha, made open and scathing denunciations against MaRa and Tiran conspiracy which led Fonseka to become an external prisoner after promising to get Fonseka full freedom,and thereby duping the people . The opposition leader went on to explain the damage that had been done by this duplicity. He made this controversial exposure when speaking at Sri Kotha today. As the main party of the joint opposition , the UNP says , all the cases which were piled on and filed against Fonseka run counter to international agreements and Parliamentary privileges and therefore they ought to be withdrawn. Since 2011 December the Govt. was telling Gen. Fonseka is to be released , and finally when he was released from the Welikade prison , it did not announce on what basis he is being released. Amidst various people expressing various views, whether an ordinary life can be led by him was one of the views .The govt. tried to instill the false view among the people that former army Commander Fonseka had been granted full release.

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1972 constitution reminds Tamils not to backtrack idea of nationhood

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 23 May 2012, 18:05 GMT]
The 1972 republican constitution of Sri Lanka, which for the first time constitutionalised a unitary Sinhala-Buddhist state, was enacted without the participation or mandate of Eezham Tamils. Not only their political opposition was brushed aside but even the judiciary also played a game against legal challenges. The constitution forced the shift in Tamil polity from federal to the idea of right to self-determination of the nation for independence, pointed out Jaffna University Law Lecturer, Guruparan Kumaravadivel on Tuesday, citing legal cases involving the republic. “You don't have to go further and look for anyone else than Murugesu Thiruchelvam's argument in the Amirthalingam trial-at-bar as to why our politics should be done on the idea of Tamil nationhood and self-determination,” Guruparan said addressing especially to the people in the TNA. 



Citing the Amirthalingam trial-at-bar, involving the 1972 constitution, in which 64 lawyers argued for Mr. A. Amirthalingam who was tried under Emergency Regulations by the Sri Lankan state, Guruparan said that it was none other than Murugesu Thiruchelvam, Dr. Neelan Thiruchelvam's father, who actually took up the argument that the 1972 constitution was invalid or could not be applied to Tamils. 

Thiruchelvam “very convincingly argued before the trial-at-bar that Tamils constitute a separate nation and their mandate at 1970 elections was different and that the 1972 constitution does not bear the stamp of legitimacy from the Tamil people.” Guruparan said.

Guruparan’s citation of M. Thiruchelvam to alert the TNA was of much significance, political observers commented to TamilNet.

While the main current of democratically mandated Tamil polity compelled by realities in the island was taking a righteous course, the USA and the West obsessed with saving the Colombo-centric state were always bringing in a line of proxies not elected by Tamils to deviate the course, political observers cited the example of the line of AJ Wilson, Neelan Thiruchelvam, Lakshman Kadirgamar and now MA Sumanthiran. 

By deliberately ignoring democratic and righteous voices of Tamils and by always highlighting the deliberations of the proxies as the ‘moderate’ course acceptable to the international community, the USA and the West have contributed largely to the frustration in democracy and the rise of militancy among Tamils in the past. They should not continue with the mistake, Tamil political observers said.

A section of the political observers didn’t fail to point out how a proxy line working even within the LTTE deviated the liberation struggle from the basics of the right to self-determination at Oslo. 

Guruparan in his address was also citing the legal battles waged by C. Suntharalingam in the courts in the island against the 1972 constitution and pointed out how the courts played a game by first telling that they could not take up the case until the constitution is declared and thereafter telling that they could not act as they were bound by the constitution.

Suntharalingam’s argument was that the 1972 Constitutional Assembly was an illegal body and that they could not enact a constitution, as they had not followed the procedure in the 1947 constitution in terms of enacting a new constitution.

There was yet another side of the legal battles in which the Privy Council that had some responsibility and Britain that was the root cause for the evil of the unitary state in the island, also have failed the Eezham Tamils, political observers in the island commented.

VIDEO: MILITARY PRESENCE IN NORTH AND EAST SHOULD RESEMBLE OTHER PART OF SL - UK

The UK hopes that the military presence in the North and East of Sri Lanka can move to resemble that in other parts of Sri Lanka, the British High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, John Rankin said today.

He also added that it is a good thing that the LTTE are no longer carrying out their terrorist activities and the LTTE remains a proscribed organisation in many countries of the world including the UK.

The UK hoped that the military presence in the North and East of the country can move to resemble that in other parts of Sri Lanka rather than the very large military presence which continues to be there in Jaffna and the Wanni, he claimed.

Rankin also added that the UK recognised the need for Sri Lanka to maintain normal military camps throughout the country as even in the case of the UK.

GROUNDVIEWS

Reconciliation: The Symbolic and the Substantive

Photo courtesy JDS

24 May, 2012    Dr. P. Saravanamuttu

Against the backdrop of grave planetary changes, Sarath Fonseka’s release, G.L. Peiris’s visit to Washington DC and the third anniversary of the defeat of the LTTE, an evaluation of the requirements of reconciliation are in order.  There is a need to distinguish between the symbolic and the substantive – both in turn playing their part in the journey beyond conflict.

The consequences of Sarath Fonseka’s release are yet to be registered, as are the causes for it to be ascertained.  Speculation abounds about it as the grand symbolic act of reconciliation, which will distract attention from the lack of or tardiness in the implementation of the more substantive measures that need to be undertaken.  There are those who maintain that it is a great meritorious act, which will vitiate malefic planetary effects, others cite Fonseka’s health and there are the more prosaic and “unpatriotic” explanations of international pressure.  Finally there is the explanation that it is a savvy political act aimed at sowing greater discord amongst the opposition. A Machiavellian twist to this is the regime’s expectation that Fonseka as the cat amongst the pigeons in the opposition will in the end consume himself- his incarceration not having turned him into a Mandela.

Sarath Fonseka may in the short term at least galvanize, with varying degrees of success, that section of the polity for whom he is a hero and martyr and those generally despairing of the Rajapaksa’s and the available opposition leadership.  As to whether his release will have an appreciable bearing on the substantive requirements of reconciliation is by no means certain.  That substantive progress on this front is a national priority, nevertheless, is surely beyond dispute.

Taking the LLRC report and the UNHRC resolution as the reference points, it is important that the key areas for action are identified and benchmarks for progress defined to measure demonstrable progress.  This requires a national conversation amongst those who have read the Report and who are both willing and able to contribute towards framing the process of reconciliation.  It also very importantly, requires the availability of the report in its entirety in the two official languages of the land.  There should be a copy of it in every public library in the country. No one should be denied access to it and to informed participation in the countrywide debate it has aroused.   That this has yet to be done, some five months after the report was made public, is a disgrace. Surely, so sovereignty conscious a government as the one we have, can get its act together to translate the LLRC report?  The latter is an indicator of the regime’s understanding of and commitment to the process of reconciliation and democratic governance.

In a similar vein, if there is an action plan or if there is to be one, it must be shared with the peoples of this country as the US secretary of State, apparently one of the privileged few who are privy to even a draft, has communicated to the foreign minister.

The issue of a political settlement of the ethnic conflict is a priority substantive issue.  It has been deadlocked for quite some time and while there are media reports about imminent movement on this front, the simple fact is that deadlock is attributable to the persistence of perspectives and positions integral to the conflict, rather than its resolution.  The arguments about Thirteenth Amendment Plus or Minus and when or whether the select committee should commence its deliberations need no rehearsing here.  What is impeding movement is the ideology of the regime and its perceived political exigencies, which are responsible for the belief that the defeat of the LTTE is the end of the story and that even now, India and the international community can be strung along with repeated and short-lived rhetorical commitments on devolution and not much else.

The President wants plausible deniability and no hostages to fortune on devolution. In political terms he is happy to trust his hardline allies to scuttle the enterprise – hence the passing of the buck to the select committee. In the meantime he will make out that Tamil political representation is stubbornly, if covertly, holding out for secession whilst at the same time, by drawing out proceedings, leave Tamil political representation high and dry, hemorrhaging credibility with its constituency.

In terms of process, the government-TNA consensus that comes out of direct talks being placed before the select committee is important because of the President’s political capital with the majority Sinhala community.  This is the time to lead; Mahinda Rajapaksa must have views on a political settlement, the need for one and the substance of it. The country needs to know; he needs to carry it along with him.  As for his hardline allies, given the importance of the issue, can he not tell them to put up and shut up or get out?

Other substantive issues that need attention are return of IDPs to their homes and out of shelter in transit camps and with host families, the provision of information on detainees to their families – an issue that was a subject in the GOSL-TNA talks and more recently of a circular, all of which to no avail- land dispute settlement and de-militarization.  The denials of the government on the latter score fly in the face of the ground realities.  Even the Leader of the Opposition in India and her fellow MPs are on record on the intrusion of the military into civilian and civic life in the north after their visit to the province. More recently the leader of the Students Union of Jaffna University was assaulted.

To demilitarization must be added the calls for investigations by the LLRC with regard to the ACF murders, the Trinco Five, the Channel 4 allegations and the incidents of civilian deaths for which the security forces are responsible, albeit, accidentally according to the LLRC.  Whilst the Geneva resolution calls upon the regime to state what it will do to ensure accountability – a key issue on which it notes the LLRC falls short- the commencement of investigations on what the LLRC has identified will go some way to checking the egregious culture of impunity.  Investigations have to be independent and it is worth monitoring as to whether information made available in Wikileaks cables will be acted upon in respect of the Trinco Five.

There is also the matter of independent commissions and that of right to information legislation.  Neither is likely under a regime so wedded to control, but nevertheless both are so fundamental to democratic governance that they must be kept on the agenda of substantive reforms.

Substantive, demonstrable progress is the need of the hour.  There are mileposts in the storm, so to speak – the Universal Periodic Review in October, the 22^nd session of the UN Human Rights Council in March 2013 and the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting to follow in November 2013.

Amnesty Says UN Security Council 'Unfit for Purpose'
Thursday, 24 May 2012 

"Failed leadership has gone global" -- according to Amnesty International's annual report on the state of human rights around the world. The United Nations Security Council is receiving the most focused criticism in the report that was published late Wednesday.

Amnesty International describes 2011 as having been a tumultuous year. On the plus side, it says, millions of people took to the streets to demand their rights -- and some secured victories. Most notably, the report says, in the Middle East and North Africa, popular movements threatened or even swept away governments that had "ruled with an iron fist."

But Amnesty says the hard work of the people was not matched by strong leadership at the national or international level.

Amnesty's London-based senior director of International Law and Policy, Widney Brown, says politicians have repeatedly responded to protests with brutality. And at an international level, she says alliances and financial interests have driven policy -- rather than human rights.

"Governments are willing to promote it when the country that they are being critical of either has no power or has no strategic importance to them. And at the same time are totally willing to bend the rules when it does," Brown said.

What is more, the Amnesty report says, the U.N. Security Council has shown itself to be tired, out of step and "unfit for purpose."

It says inaction over alleged abuses in Sri Lanka and Syria made the Security Council look redundant.

"Our concern is that the U.N. Security Council is charged with protecting international peace and security and yet in a case like Syria, where civilians are clearly being targeted, they basically chose not to act and when they did finally act, it was quite weak," Brown said.

China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States are permanent members of the Security Council.

Brown says these countries are also major arms exporters, a situation that can create a conflict of financial interest.

"Of the top six arms dealers in the world, five of those top six are permanent members of the Security Council. And there is a certain irony in the fact that the governments charged with international peace and security in fact are major arms dealers," Brown said.

Amnesty used the 2012 report to highlight the global arms trade and call for a strong global arms-trade treaty later this year. The treaty is set to be negotiated at a global conference in New York during the month of July.

Amnesty Arms Control Manager Brian Woods says if there is a risk that arms exported to another country could contribute to human-rights abuses, then those supplies should be stopped. He says a global treaty is the only way to make that work.

"Wherever we go and say look you should not have sent those arms to country 'X' or 'Y,' people will say, 'Oh yeah, but if we did not send them somebody else would.' Governments say that to us, companies say it, so there is no way you can tackle this problem unless you have a level playing field at a pretty high level for all countries," Woods said.

Amnesty International Report 2012 looks at the state of human rights in 155 countries and territories.

Russia Backs Sri Lanka On War Probe Calls

15:23 23/05/2012

MOSCOW, May 23 (RIA Novosti)

Tags: Gamini Lakshman Peiris, Sergei Lavrov, Sri Lanka, Russia

Attempts to force an international probe on Sri Lanka, into civilian deaths and rights abuses during the final months of the island nation’s civil war, are unacceptable, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday at a meeting with his Sri Lankan counterpart Gamini Lakshman Peiris.

In May 2009, Sri Lanka’s military defeated the Tamil Tiger rebel group after a massive offensive in the northeast that ended decades of separatist warfare. Since the beginning of the armed conflict in 1983, violence had killed more than 70,000 people, damaged the economy and harmed tourism in one of South Asia's potentially most prosperous societies. A UN report published in 2011 said both sides in the conflict committed war crimes against civilians. The Sri Lankan government rejected the report, describing it as biased.

Ties between the United States and Sri Lanka have been strained by U.S. sponsorship of a resolution passed by the UN human rights council in March, to press Sri Lanka to conduct an independent probe into civilian deaths in the final months of the civil war , which ended in 2009.

“We believe, attempts to force international investigation on Sri Lanka without the sovereign state’s permission and bypassing the UN Security Council are absolutely wrong, they also contradict our aspirations in the human rights sphere,” Lavrov said.

He emphasized that Sri Lanka has forged an own trustworthy commission to look into the war crimes.

Mediators in Fonseka’s release had duped all and sundry wholesale – true colors exposed

(Lanka-e-News-23.May.2012, 11.30PM) Following the release of Gen. Fonseka on the 21st , and after his coming out , it was declared that the nature of the freedom granted to Fonseka is not known. Yet Tiran Alles who had discussions on the 20th , told the media , the release granted to Fonseka is only a ‘ release’ , and when he comes out the following day , we will see whether it is a full freedom or not. If full freedom has not been granted , in the future we shall do our utmost to secure his full freedom.

It is significant to note that until that point of time what Alles told was , Fonseka is going to be released unconditionally.

The letter herein is what was sent to the Commissioner of Prisons regarding Fonseka’s release by Kamalini De Silva , the Secretary to the Ministry of Justice on the 21st. In that letter it is mentioned that the prisoner No. 022032 Sarath Chandralal Fonseka who is serving sentences following the verdicts of the civil court in the white flag case and the verdict given by the second military court has been recommended a Presidential pardon . The day on which this recommendation was sent was 15th May. That is the day following the day on which the President for the first time made the revelation to a journalist of the ‘Hindu’ newspaper .

In the letter sent by the Justice Ministry Secretary to the Prisons Commissioner , it is very clearly stated , according to the recommendation , President Rajapakse had given a pardon only pertaining to the remaining days of Fonseka’s prison sentence 

When such a pardon is granted applicable only to the remaining days , even a Kindergarten child knows , Fonseka’s civil rights will be denied.
In the circumstances , it is most abundantly clear from this letter that this group who were mediating , and had discussions over sumptuous meals and having parties with the President had been bluffing all and sundry right along , when they uttered the most sordid unscrupulous lie that until 22nd (yesterday) they did not know the quantum of freedom Fonseka is going to be granted.

This group who maliciously or otherwise said more often than not , no conditions are being attached to Fonseka’s release led the entire nation up the garden path . The question now is whether the General also was duped wholesale like the people of the country .
May we recall that LeN reported on 28th Dec.2011 about the new issues plaguing Fonseka in the name of reprieve .’MaRa – Alles the faceless conspiracy exposed’.

Meanwhile former Chief Justice (CJ) Sarath Silva had stated , via the measures taken to release Sarath Fonseka , a well calculated diabolic objective had been achieved by interested parties. Though he is out he still in , under ‘house arrest’ virtually. He will secure the absolute rights and freedom only if the past period of his sentence he has served is included in the pardon. The President when granting the pardon to release Fonseka , he has not done that , he noted. When the release was granted to Fonseka under the Presidential pardon , Fonseka’s period of sentence he had served based on the punishment meted out to him by the secondary military court had not been reckoned . This pardon has been granted without reference to this period , whereby for the next 7 years his civil rights are abolished , the former CJ pointed out.

‘Sri Lanka’s War Criminal Will Join The Queen At The Taxpayer-Funded Meal’, Make Sure This Doesn’t Happen– Says Sri Lanka Campaign

May 24, 2012

The Queen / Photograph: John Stillwell/PA

By Colombo Telegraph –

“The celebrations will be long, grand, and varied, and one of the flagship events will be a private luncheon in London on the 6th of June with the Prime Minister, the Foreign Secretary … and a war criminal….The President of Sri Lanka, Mahinda Rajapaksa, a man against whom the UN have found credible allegations of responsibility for the murder of 40,000 civilians, and who leads a government that oversaw the disappearance of 32 people this March alone, will join the Queen and other heads of state at the taxpayer-funded meal.”

“You can help make sure this doesn’t happen” they further says.

Below we give their request in full;

Dear friends,

This year, Queen Elizabeth II will celebrate her diamond jubilee, to mark sixty years as monarch and head of the commonwealth. The celebrations will be long, grand, and varied, and one of the flagship events will be a private luncheon in London on the 6th of June with the Prime Minister, the Foreign Secretary … and a war criminal.

Read More

No relief for Fonseka’s supporters

Thursday, 24 May 2012 

A large number of military personnel who were prematurely retired from the force for their support towards Sarath Fonseka are despondent that the relief anticipated by them following Fonskea’s release would not materialize. Most of the army personnel who were on the frontlines of the war under Fonseka were victimized soon after Fonseka’s entrance to politics.

Members of the “Main Stream” group that consisted of the best military personnel from all battalions in the army formed by Fonseka during the crucial stages of the war were victimized in this manner. Although they worked with conviction to defeat the LTTE without any allegiance to political parties, they were victimized since they worked closely with Fonseka.

Senior Majors General like Dhammika Liyanage, Mahesh Senanayake, Ranjith Silva, Jayantha Perera and Samantha Sooriyabandara were victimized by the Defence Secretary. Also, brigadiers, colonels, majors and captains were victimized in a similar manner. About 218 members of the Main Stream group were prematurely retired and most of them do not even receive their pensions.

The white van operation was signed to follow most of these personnel after being forcibly retired and most of them had to leave the country for safety.

They are disgruntled that their plights have not been discussed during the discussions to secure Fonseka’s release and the media had also failed to highlight them.

Although some of the Main Stream members had arrived at Fonseka’s residence in Thalawatugoda to congratulate him after his release, they have not been allowed I side by the private security personnel deployed at the house.

Million dollar scam: 17 Chinese arrested

THURSDAY, 24 MAY 2012
Seventeen Chinese including six women were arrested by the CID at Rajagiriya today on charges of having defrauded more than two million dollars from several banks in China, police said.

The Chinese police are carrying out investigations with permission from the Interpol Branch in Sri Lanka. The Chinese police are being assisted by the CID.
Police also recovered several computers and other equipment used by the suspects who are being detained pending deportation.

Stopping The Rot

By Colombo Telegraph -

Namini Wijedasa

Keynote speech delivered by journalist Namini Wijedasa at the Annual General Meeting of the Citizens Movement for Good Governance today, held in the auditorium of the Organisation of Professional Associations, Colombo.

Members of the Citizens Movement for Good Governance and friends,

This is an honour indeed. And yet, I am more than a little daunted at having to speak before an audience whose experience and memories stretch so back into the past. When Dr. Visvalingam invited me to address you, I was delighted. But as the days flew by, I became more and more uncertain of what I could say to people who already knew so much more than I do. And who have lived much longer than I have.

So I stand before you as an ordinary journalist who makes no pretence about the depth and extent of my knowledge or insight. I present to you my views based on what I have learnt of my country through the exercise of my profession.    Read More

“These are good lessons for us” Judge Deepali says

Thursday, 24 May 2012

Court of Appeal Judge Deepali Wijesundera who headed the trial at bar that heard the controversial White Flag case against Sarath Fonseka when she was a High Court Judge has recently told several High Court judges that she and her family were faced with a difficult situation after giving verdicts requested by others.

Wijesundera has also said that every one was now coming into various agreements while others have to take the brunt of the whole incident. She has asked the other judges to learn a lesson from her plight saying there was no one to help them.

Deepali Wijesundera has been given an additional police protection after she had explained her plight to the President.

Civil Society action on LLRC Recommendations

Published on May 22, 2012 by yatvwebcast

The "Platform for Freedom" - a coalition of Civil Society organizations held an event on the 16th of May to pass a resolution to develop an action plan on the report released by the LLRC-the full implementation of which is believed to be crucial for reconciliation in the country.

TNA demands release of fasting prisoners
May 22, 2012,

by Saman Indrajith

The Tamil National Alliance yesterday in Parliament demanded that the government release all the Tamil political prisoners, currently engaged in a fast unto death campaign in the Colombo, Vavuniya and Kalutara prisons.

TNA leader, Trincomalee District MP, R. Sampanthan, making a special statement in Parliament said: "We call upon the government to take immediate

steps to release all the Tamil political prisoners since three years have lapsed after the armed conflict ended. We also request that proper responsible assurances be given to the fasting prisoners in this regard forthwith so that they may decide to suspend their hunger-strike."

Sampanthan accused the military intelligence of assaulting the Jaffna University Students’ Union president Paramalingam Dharshanath, on May 18 in Jaffna. "This attack, like the previous one on the Chairman of the Students’ Union will only serve to alienate the Tamils further. This once again highlights the negative aspects of the heavy military presence in Jaffna. This attack is suspected to be the work of the military intelligence as the assailants in this instance, like many previous instances, will not be apprehended," the TNAleader said.

Full text of the TNA leader’s speech: "There are 234 Tamil political prisoners, who are on a hunger strike for the sixth consecutive day today. 179 of them are at the Colombo Remand Prison, 33 at Vavuniya and another 22 at Kalutara. The health condition of several of these prisoners has deteriorated drastically. On Sunday 20th May 2012, two Members of Parliament, from my party, visited the Colombo Remand Prison and spoke to many of the fasting prisoners and appealed to them to suspend their fast until the authorities take a decision at a meeting said to have been convened for today. The prisoners have refused to call off their fast stating that several assurances given in the past have not been kept and that this time they are determined to fast unto death.

It is important to highlight this issue to this House as a matter of utmost urgency and through this to the whole country. Almost all the fasting prisoners are persons who surrendered to the security forces at the end of the armed conflict in May 2009. There are many disabled persons amongst them, despite the government’s claim that all disabled persons were released promptly, even without undergoing rehabilitation. According to the government, over 10,000 persons who surrendered have been rehabilitated and released. We have appreciated this approach and are grateful to the government for this move. However, inexplicably, many hundreds still remain in custody. Some of them have undergone rehabilitation and even possess the IOM certificate in that regard. But, they have been arrested at the point of release and have been incarcerated without any charges being preferred against them. We note that while many leaders of the LTTE, upon their readiness to cooperate with the government, have effectively been pardoned and enjoy positions in government and attendant perquisites from the State, these prisoners are being deprived of their liberty for so long, while their families are on the verge of starvation due to the fact that the bread-winner is in prison.

We call upon the government to take immediate steps to release all the Tamil political prisoners since three years have lapsed after the armed conflict ended. We also request that proper responsible assurances be given to the fasting prisoners in their regard forthwith so that they may decide to suspend their hunger-strike.

I also would like to draw the attention of this House to the dastardly attack carried out on the Secretary of the Jaffna University’s Students’ Union, Paramalingam Dhrshanath, on the 18th of May at around 8.00 a.m., in broad daylight in Jaffna. This attack, like the previous one on the Chairman of the Students’ Union, will only serve to alienate the Tamils further. This once again highlights the negative aspects of the heavy military presence in Jaffna. This attack is suspected to be the work of the military intelligence as the assailants of this instance, like many previous instances, will not be apprehended. If the government denies the involvement of the military in this attack, let it arrest the offenders promptly and prosecute them.

While condemning, in the strongest terms, this deliberate and audacious attack on a student leader of the Jaffna University, we call upon the government without further delay to take effective steps to reduce the excessive and oppressive presences of the military force in the North-East."

Leader of the House Irrigation Minister Nimal Siripala De Silva said that the issues raised in the special statement of the TNA leader comes under the purview of three ministries and informed the House that the government’s reply would be given today (23).

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

When The Rehabilitated ‘Disappear’… Mano Wants Gajadeera To Trace Missing Youth

By Raisa Wickrematunge

President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Rehabilitation Minister Chandrasiri Gajadeera, Indian HC Ashok Kantha, US Ambassador Patricia Butenis, Australian HC Kathy Klugman among other diplomats on stage at Temple Trees on Sept/30/2011.

Minister of Prisons and Rehabilitation, Chandrasiri Gajadeera on Friday (18) said that he had not received a letter from Democratic People’s Front leader Mano Ganesan regarding any missing prisoners.
However, the Minister said he would have to double-check to see if any letter had indeed been received.
Ganesan said he had addressed a letter to Gajadeera several days ago on the issue.
The DPF leader said the issue was first brought to his attention when he was contacted by the parents of three rehabilitated cadres who said they had not seen their children return home even after an official ‘re-integration event.’
Kerbert Morino Leon Roxy of Alambil, Mullaitivu, Savarimuththu Anton Hudson Lorantine of Kanagapuram, Kilinochchi, and Murugesu Muruganandan of Murasumottai, Paranthan are the three cadres who never returned home after an event titled ‘Ekvemu Sema; Nagamu Rata’ (Let us come together and build the country).
In a letter addressed to Gajadeera on Monday (14) Ganesan noted that the event was presided over by President Rajapaksa. 1800 former cadres had been released on Friday, September 30, 2011, having received ‘skills development’ and deemed fit to be re-integrated into society. State officials had been quoted as saying that some of the former cadres could not join their parents immediately as there was a delay in printing skills development certificates, adding that however the cadres would be released ‘in a matter of days.’ However Roxy, Lorantine and Muruganandan were not seen since then, and their parents are being denied information on their whereabouts, Ganesan said in the letter.
What’s more, the parents had photographic evidence that their sons had attended the re-integration ceremony; photos which are now in the possession of The Sunday Leader. Roxy’s mother (named as Saroja Devi) said she had not been permitted to attend the ceremony, in an article published in the Hindu. Devi reportedly met with Commissioner General of Rehabilitation Brigadier Dharshana Hettiarachchi who had said that the ‘names do not match’ but had added that he had asked his office to locate the boys in question.
“These youths, according to the parents,
were forcefully abducted by LTTE in year 2008 and within 15 days they managed to escape and surrendered to the army in Mannar,” Ganesan wrote. The three cadres in question have been missing for five years, he said. As a result, he entreated the Minister to take some action and added that he was checking to see if any other similar cases had been recorded.
However, Minister Gajadeera said he did not know about anything about the letter, a copy of which is enclosed below.

From the office of
Mano Ganesan
Leader of Democratic People’s Front
Convener of Civil Monitoring Commission
President of Democratic Worker’s Congress

My dear Minister,

1.    (Mr) Kerbert Morino Leon Roxy of Alambil, Mullaitivu  
2.    (Mr) Savarimutththu Anton Hudson Lorantine of Kanagapuram, Killinochchi
3.    (Mr) Murugesu Muruganandan of Murasumottai, Paranthan  

This is in reference to the reintegration event under the theme titled in Sinhala as ‘Ekvemu Sema; Nagamu Rata’ ( Let us get together and build the country) held at Temple Trees on 30/September/2011.                          Read More »

Fonseka now a prisoner in the open

– Former CJ Sarath N. Silva

May 22, 2012, 12:00 pm 

by Samantha illeperuma

Former Chief Justice Sarath Nanda Silva yesterday observed that President Rajapaksa had not granted a full pardon to Gen. Sarath Fonseka.

The presidential pardon had not been backdated to the beginning of his sentence passed by the second military court martial, therefore he had lost his civic rights for seven years, the former Chief Justice said.

Making further observations on the pardon, Silva said when the President exercised his powers to grant a pardon to any prisoner it should not be done as a political act, but done as an act of a State leader.

Sarath Fonseka needed to be pardoned in two cases. They were the High Court conviction in the White Flag case and the second conviction by a military court. He had been fully pardoned from the High Court conviction, but he had not been pardoned from the part of the sentence already served from the second court martial conviction. What he had been pardoned from was the remaining part of the sentence, the ex-CJ said.

As he had not been pardoned from the portion of the sentence he had already served, he was liable to lose his civic rights for the next seven years. Gen. Fonseka had been made a prisoner in the open, he said.

WikiLeaks:UNP Is Playing A Dangerous Game Supporting General Fonseka

By Colombo Telegraph -

“The UNP party is playing a dangerous game supporting General Fonseka, because the Sri Lankan Presidency is very powerful, and it is unclear what economic policies Fonseka would support as President. The opposition focus on corruption indicates that it believes that neo-liberal reforms, such as privatization, are too toxic to publicly advocate. Sri Lanka,s economy could indeed benefit from both a good crusade against corruption and liberal reforms.” the US Embassy Colombo informed Washington.

The UNP party is playing a dangerous game supporting General Fonseka, because the Sri Lankan Presidency is very powerful

The Colombo Telegraph found the related leaked cable fromWikiLeaks database, which details the opposition presidential candidate General Fonseka’s little knowledge on economic issues. The cable is classified as “CONFIDENTIAL” and written by the Ambassador Patricia Butenis on January 4, 2010.

The ambassador wrote “The opposition presidential candidate General Fonseka is a military man who has publicly admitted that he has little knowledge of economic issues, and other than clamping down on corruption, he has no apparent economic program. General Fonseka has announced some populist measures to increase government employee salaries and increase public pensions. It will be extremely difficult for him to advance a coherent economic policy because the opposition parties supporting him have diametrically opposed economic views. Instead, Fonseka plans to focus on corruption, where President Rajapaksa is weak, and blaming corruption and government waste for the voters, tough economic times. While the economy is a high-priority for many voters, both campaigns have focused on personalities and and past performance rather than on a solid economic and political platform for the future.”

Read the cable below for further details;          Read More

UK Labour Party Says No Credible Probe In Sri Lanka

Miliband

Britain’s Labour party three years after the war in Sri Lanka a credible accountability process has still not been initiated from within Sri Lanka to investigate the serious allegations of war crimes detailed in the UN Panel of Experts report.
In a message to mark the remembrance of the incident which occurred in Mulivaikal during the final stages of the war, Labour leader – Ed Miliband MP said that his party remains deeply concerned by the desperate plight faced by many Tamils on the island, as well as the on-going violations of human rights.
“Only if substantive measures are put in place to advance accountability and encourage reconciliation between communities on the island, will a sustainable peace take root. For these reasons, the Labour Party has called for an international, independent inquiry into the conduct of the war’s final months,” Miliband said.
Miliband said that his party supports the recent United Nations Human Rights Council resolution promoting ‘Accountability and Reconciliation in Sri Lanka’.
“We urge the Government of Sri Lanka to co-operate with the United Nations; to implement the constructive recommendations of their Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission report; and to ensure justice for all the victims of the conflict,” he said.
In the weeks and months ahead Miliband says the Labour Party will continue to prevail upon the British Government and other members of the international community, the importance of closely monitoring the implementation of the UN Human Rights Council resolution.
He said that if there is no progress on these matters, then the British Prime Minister and his Government should keep under review the matter of UK representation at the 2013 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Sri Lanka.
“It is imperative that the Government of Sri Lanka adhere to its obligations to its people, by safeguarding their rights, and by providing the accountability and reconciliation mechanisms necessary to set Sri Lanka on the path to justice, dignity and long lasting peace,” he said.