Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Galle District Chief Sangha Nayaka suspended

TUESDAY, 10 JULY 2012

Ven. Migettuwaththe Sumiththa Thera, Galle District Chief Sangha Nayaka, has been suspended from his post by the Asgiri Maha Vihara.

Asgiri Chapter Chief Registrar the Ven. Anamaduwe Dhammadassi Thera said that the decision to suspend the former Chief Sangha Nayaka was taken after he was arrested on charges of having assisted suspects to carry out several robberies.

Ven. Sumiththa Thera was arrested on Sunday for his involvement in robberies that included Rs.40 million worth of cash and jewllery robbed from a shop in Aluthgama.

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Treasure hunters ransack temple

July 2, 2012,

By Padamasiri Gardiyawasam, Tangalle Corr

Treasure hunters have damaged Buddha statues and chetiya of the Hakuruwela Pihillawela Purana Rajamaha Viharaya in Weerakeitiya on Sunday (01) night.

They had demolished a side of the Chetiya and broken down the pinnacle (kotha) and taken it away with them, police said.

At the time the Chief incumbent of the temple had gone for a pirith chanting ceremony. The acolyte of the temple was found gagged and trussed up when the chief incumbent returned. Parts of the Buddha statues which had been demolished by the treasure hunters in search of valuable items deposited in them were scattered on the floor. The value of the treasure taken away could not be estimated, police said.

Weeraketiya police are conducting further investigations.

Gota Goes Berserk: A Mirror Image Of Sri Lanka’s Political Culture

July 10, 2012

By Basil Fernando -

Basil Fernando

The interview of the Defense Secretary Mr. Gotabaya Rajapakse with the editor of the Sunday Leader on the airlifting of a dog deserves comment not because of anything surprising contained in the interview. Its importance lies in its banality. It reveals something that has come to be quite common and ordinary in the day-to-day experience in Sri Lanka.

Threats about killings, killing by the people, reference to journalists as “shit eating pigs”, use of dirty words (kunuharapa) and the statement that he does not care about the courts, are all too common things people have all got used to. It all reveals what has come be today’s political culture in the country.

About the threats about killing, how often and how many people has faced such threats? That people will be avengers! The ‘people’ is euphemism for underground elements and of the state agents working under cover. Thus, ‘people’ attacked the JVP rally and killed two persons. Later, the ‘people’ turned out to be Mr. Julampittiye Amare and his associates. The ‘people’ killed Mr. Lasantha Wicramathunge, the ‘people’ attacked Mr. Baratha Laksman Premachandra, the ‘people’ went inquiring where about of the FUTA President. This list could be a very long. Every one having a dissenting view and everyone participating in protests have learned to expect that ‘people’ will come in search of them. When they sleep they are likely to see nightmares about the ‘people’ coming for their blood.

The fear of white vans and fear of those who come chasing on motorcycles, are all modern day versions of‘billas’. Taking precautions to avoid such billas has become a day-to-day pre-occupation. Those who live with such fears are not only journalists, but also people who live in high places. In a recent meeting where the speaker spoke about white vans, a high court judge present at the meeting told the speaker, “we are also afraid of such things”.

As for Kunuharupa, who really expects any polite conversations with authorities anymore? Only way to avoid such words been hurled at oneself, is to retire to private life and not to bother about public affairs. What is disappearing really is the idea of citizenship. The respect owed to the citizen, comes from the democratic notion of the citizen and the state. Who expect such kind of respect any more?

Not caring about courts is nothing surprising either. Onetime a minister was sent to jail for two years for saying a similar thing for contempt of court. Today, even a constable dares to defy the court and not execute warrants issued by it, if the person avoiding arrest enjoys political patronage.

Nothing need to be said about journalist been referred to as pigs. So much has already been heard about the flight of journalists, for anyone to be shocked by such insults hurled at them. Journalists in Sri Lanka need to wear a special dress on which such attacks will not leave a trace. Anyway those who govern seem to think they are ruling over pigs.

This is Sri Lanka’s political culture in the 21 century.

‘Keep Frederica Jansz Safe’, ‘Embassies In Sri Lanka Should Raise Her Case’ – ARTICLE 19

July 9, 2012

By ARTICLE 19 -

ARTICLE 19 is very concerned for the safety of Sri Lankan journalist, Frederica Jansz, who has been threatened with death by the country’s defence secretary, Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

Dr Agnes Callamard

“The threat against journalist Frederica Jansz is the latest demonstration of the Sri Lankan government’s systematic attacks against independent and opposition-supporting journalists and media houses. They have showered scorn on journalists and shown a complete inability or unwillingness to prosecute perpetrators of violence toward and the killing of journalists,” said Dr Agnes Callamard, ARTICLE 19 executive director.

“We urge the authorities to keep Frederica Jansz safe. We also urge embassies in Sri Lanka to raise her case with the government.”

Frederica Jansz is the editor of Sri Lankan weekly newspaper, The Sunday Leader, and was conducting a phone interview with Rajapaksa, who is also the brother of the president.

According to The Sunday Leader, Rajapaksa told Jansz during the interview: “You pig that eats shit! You shit shit dirty fucking journalist! […] People will kill you! People hate you! They will kill you!”

The Sunday Leader and its journalists face regular attack. The newspaper’s editor, Lasantha Wickramatunge, was assassinated on his way to work on 8 January 2009. Nobody has ever been prosecuted for the crime.

Censorship and violence has recently increased against online sources of information and their authors. On 29 June, eight journalists and an assistant were arrested after the Sri Lankan police raided the offices of two news websites,srilankamirror.com and srilankaxnews.com.

MORE INFORMATION

For more information on the interview, see here and for a history of Rajapakse, see here.

AG’s wrong advice puts CID officers in trouble

Monday, 09 July 2012

The Attorney General’s Department had advised the CID officers to get a court order to protect them in the event a case was filed against the raid on the office of Sri Lanka Mirror and Sri Lanka X News. However, a magisterial directive has indicated that the CID would not receive such immunity. The CID has taken the court order to raid the website office stating the violation of criminal defamation law, attempt to act against the state and bring defame the President’s name. Courts had been informed that the police special bureau had informed the details t the CID. The criminal defamation law had been repealed 10 years ago and the CID had not received any evidence to prove that action against the state had been taking place at the website office.

Evidence had not been found to prove that the President’s name had been damaged.

When the late Anura Banadarnaike filed a fundamental rights petition before the Supreme Court against the police for searching his Rosemead Place residence to find Susantha Punchinilame who was accused of assassinating Nalanda Ellawela, the court ruled that the police would not be provided immunity for its illegal action by getting a search warrant.

The Supreme Court said that the police would be guilty of violating fundamental rights if it had given false and misleading information to courts to get the search warrant. Therefore, the Supreme Court rejected the fact that the police had a warrant to search the Rosemead Place residence.

Therefore, the operators of Sri Lanka Mirror and Sri Lanka X News have the opportunity of following this precedent and filing a fundamental rights petition before Supreme Court.

SRI LANKA: Seeking democratic solutions within an undemocratic political system -- a review on the basis of principles formulated by John Rawls

July 9, 2012

Contributors: Basil Fernando
For many decades since 1978 there has been talk about many reforms. The basic justification for 17th Amendment to the Constitution was that it promised basic reforms with the view to enable working of the democratic process. There had also been suggestions for reforms to ensure the rights of minorities, particularly the Tamils. The 13th Amendment to the Constitution was an outcome of that debate. Then the latest is the recommendations of the commissions for the lessons learned (LLRC), which suggests several other reforms and this now has the backing of the resolution from the UN Human Rights Council.

The 17th Amendment, 13th Amendment and the recommendations of the LLRC are based on the assumption that there is a democratic political framework in Sri Lanka, which makes implementation of the reforms proposed by these documents possible. If this assumption is to be false, all the work and agitation for such implementation is surely based on a false assumption.

Is the political system of Sri Lanka a democratic one? This is the first question that should be considered if all the work and agitation for democratic reforms of the existing political system is not to go to waste. So, will our system qualify to be called a democratic system?

As the question is a very serious one we may perhaps rely on a respected authority by everyone in the field of constitutional law and philosophy to consider this question. John Rawls, in his Theory of Justice laid down a few very basic principles of a political system that may be called democratically just.

These principles are that such a society is a fair system of cooperation. The public institutions of such a society should provide for the possibility of a fair system of cooperation among all its members. Is Sri Lanka today a well ordered system of fair cooperation?

A further principle he advanced was that such a society is a well ordered society. A well ordered society is a society effectively regulated by a public conception of justice. In such a society everyone accepts, and knows that everyone else accepts, the very same political conception of justice. This implies that the society's basic structure is effectively regulated by a public conception of justice. All the main political and social institutions and the ways in which they hang together as one system of cooperation satisfy the principles of justice.

In a well ordered society the public conception of justice provides a mutually recognised point of view from which the citizens can adjudicate their claims of political right on their political institutions or against one another.

Is Sri Lanka today such a well ordered society?

The third basic idea that John Rawls presented was the idea of the basic structure of the society. The basic structure of a society is the way in which the main political and social institutions of society fit together into one system of social cooperation. The political constitution with an independent judiciary, the legally recognised form of property, the structure of the economy as well as the family in some form, all belong to the same basic structure. The basic structure is the background, social framework within which the activities of associations and individuals takes place. It is this just, basic structure that secures what we may call the background for justice as Rawls explained.

Examined from these three basic ideas is Sri Lanka political system a democratic system at all?

An exit from a democratic form of governance

The adoption of the 1978 Constitution marked an exit from a democratic form of governance in Sri Lanka. It was a decisive rupture and a radical departure from the basic democratic political norms introduced by the Constitution with which Sri Lanka started its history as an independent nation.

Why there has not been any significant breakthrough out of this undemocratic political system that was introduced in 1978 despite of many efforts as well as a lot of rhetoric to bring about radical democratic reforms is because there is a general unwillingness to accept that the system as it exists now is fundamentally an undemocratic system. It is not a democratic system with some flaws or defects. It is not a democratic system at all. Since there is unwillingness or reluctance to come to terms with this political reality no advance is made at all towards any improvements in the movement to develop effective strategies for bringing about change.

All suggestions for reforms as well as all the analysis that go with it is based on a false logic of trying to add democratic branches to a tree that belongs to a completely different species. Until this fundamental contradiction is grasped nothing much will happen to bring about the change that the people desire and want.

The people desire a fair system of cooperation. The present system rejects any kind of cooperation. It is designed to benefit a few and the system works according to the design. It is not meant to be a system for the people. It is meant to be a system for a few and there is no room for any kind of power for the people.

This is essentially also the trap in which all demands and the efforts for the minority rights are also ensnared. Until the minorities understand that there does not exist any room for cooperation for any of the people of the country, including the majority population to be a part of a fair system of cooperation they will also be caught up in the same snare. Much effort and much talk will go to waste as an undemocratic system cannot be changed into a democratic one without dealing with the overall problem by everyone.

The same can be said of the ultimate outcome of the resolution of the Human Rights Council on Sri Lanka. Despite of goodwill and the best of intentions the resolutions failed to deal with the fact that since 1978 democratic governance does not exist in Sri Lanka.

(The references to John Rawls has been from Justice as Fairness - a restatement - John Rawls edited by Erin Kelly).

For further reading kindly see the AHRC publication Gyges' Ring - the 1978 Constitution of Sri Lanka.

Government has misled the people with regard to websites – Media activists

Monday, 09 July 2012

Media activists say that despite claims by the government that operating websites that have not been registered is illegal and a violation of a court directive, there is no law that stipulates the registration of websites. The media activists have pointed out that Leader of the House Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva, Cabinet Spokesperson Minister Keheliya Rambukwella and the Media Center for National Security were misleading the public.

Several websites have now been blocked by the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC). A fundamental rights petition filed on the matter was cast aside by the Supreme Court. However, media activists say the Supreme Court had not ruled that operating websites without registration is illegal.

In the event the Supreme Court had issued such a directive action could have been taken against the websites operating in Sri Lanka without registration legally citing contempt of court. Therefore, the government has now exposed its lies by getting the police to raid website offices.

“Stop training Lankan airmen”

STAFF REPORTER TIRUNELVELI, July 10, 2012

Demanding the eviction of Sri Lankan airmen now undergoing training in the Indian Air Force Station at Bangalore, the Communist Party of India would stage a Statewide agitation on July 13, party’s deputy secretary C. Mahendran has said.

Addressing the reporters here on Monday, Mr. Mahendran said the Sri Lankan armed forces, which brutally murdered over 1.42 lakh Tamils within a year including 45,000 innocents at Mullivaaikaal alone, would employ its personnel who had undergone training at Bangalore only against the Tamils.

Hence, the Indian Government should stop the ongoing training at Bangalore and send the Sri Lankan airmen from the country immediately.

The Ministry of External Affairs and the Ministry of Defence should take a policy decision that no military training would be given to the jawans of Sri Lankan armed forces as the new techniques taught here by India would be experimented only against Tamils of the island nation.

Mr. Mahendran dismissed Union Minister V. Narayanasamy’s assertion that the training was given as part of the SAARC agreement.

“The agreement reached between SAARC nations paves way for only regional cooperation in education, cultural exchange, trade etc. and not in the field of defence,” he said.

Instead, the Indian Government should initiate steps for conducting referendum, as it was done in South Sudan, Kosovo and Eastern Timor, in Sri Lanka also “as the country is involved in genocide or ethnic cleansing.”

The CPI leader came down heavily on DMK president’s announcement on the revival of TESO (Tamil Eelam Students’ Organisation).

“If he (Mr. Karunanidhi) is really concerned about Sri Lankan Tamils, he could have asked the Union Government, in which he is all powerful, to stop the merciless killing of 1.42 lakh Tamils within a year in Sri Lanka when he was the Chief Minister. Let him first clarify the reason behind not taking action to stop the genocide.”

Mr. Mahendran, while condemning the killing of Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam office-bearer Palani alias Palanisamy, said the inclusion of CPI MLA from Thalli, T. Ramachandran, in the First Information Report was purely based on speculations.

“We want the arrest of real culprits involved in the gruesome murder,” he said.

The CPI would soon launch an agitation against the selling of underweight fertilizer bags to farmers and demand a probe into the irregularity which was indirectly benefiting a few people in power.

CPI office-bearers R. Shanmugavel and S. Xavier were present.

SRI LANKA: An attempt is made to abduct a journalist and human rights defender

July 9, 2012

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that an attempt was made to abduct Mr. Shantha Wijesuriya, a journalist for Lanka-e-news, Sri Lanka’s most widely read online news publication. Shortly after the publication of a controversial article in which Mr. Wijesuriya highlighted the link between a known criminal and the Rajapaksa family, two men in a white van tried to pull Mr. Wijesuriya into their vehicle as he traveled in Nugegoda, a suburb of Colombo.

Immediate steps must be taken to investigate this abduction attempt, and provide for Mr. Wijesuriya’s safety, as well as the safety of his family. In light of previous attacks on local journalists, it is imperative that action is taken to preserve Mr. Wijesuriya’s safety. Indeed, Mr. Wijesuriya’s colleague, Prageeth Eknaligoda, of Lanka-e-news, was abducted and disappeared on 24 January 2010. The offices of Lanka-e-news have survived several arson attacks.

As well as Lanka-e-news, Mr. Wijesuriya has written for the Mawubima newspaper, writing about judicial corruption, miscarriages of justice and the necessity of judicial independence. Since he is not a member of the elite classes, these brave attempts to defend the basic rights of working-class people are all the more admirable. Mr. Wijesuriya is concerned with reporting news in a transparent and trustworthy manner, even if this leads to his arbitrary arrest and detention. He has been an active organizer of and participant in public events held to protect and promote the human rights of the Sri Lankan people. He works courageously, with full awareness of the danger that he and his family members might face. The AHRC calls on the Sri Lankan government to immediately provide forces to protect a journalist who works towards the goal of a pluralist, independent media. This case is yet another illustration of the exceptional collapse of the rule of law in the country.

CASE NARRATIVE:Read More…

Parents of dead Sri Lankan Tamil prisoner 'denied last rites'

By Charles Haviland 9 July 2012 Mr Nimalaruban's parents said his body was covered in blood

The parents of a prisoner who died in obscure circumstances in Sri Lanka are locked in a battle with officials who say his body cannot be taken to his home town for the last rites.

Ganesan Nimalaruban died and several other inmates, all Tamil Tiger suspects, were reportedly injured after a failed prison mutiny in the north.

The authorities deny mistreating him, saying he died of a heart attack.

They say that the prisoners were working with Tamil separatists abroad.

Human rights lawyers working with the parents of Mr Nimalaruban have lodged a petition over the death at the Supreme Court.

They want to overturn a court ruling that he must be cremated near the capital, Colombo.

His grieving mother and father say they would prefer to give him the last rites in their home district, Vavuniya in northern Sri Lanka.

They reject assertions by the authorities that such a funeral would be a security risk.

It was in the Vavuniya prison that 32 inmates who are Tamil Tiger suspects took three prison guards hostage in late June, holding them for 19 hours in a protest against prisoner transfers.

The siege was successfully broken and all the prisoners relocated.

But rights campaigners and Tamil MPs say the prison authorities and police worked with other inmates to exact a terrible revenge, attacking them with stones and weapons, physically throwing them or breaking their legs.

Nimalaruban's parents said his body was covered in blood.

The authorities deny all the accusations.

At least one other prisoner is reported to be in a coma and in hospital.

A first in its 25-year history, FeTNA announces Toronto as host for their 2013 Convention

Canadian Tamil Congress awarded the opportunity to host the FeTNA convention for 2013 in Toronto, Canada.

For Immediate Release
July 9th, 2012

Baltimore, MARYLAND, USA – The Canadian Tamil Congress (CTC) is excited to inform Canadians that on July 5 and 6, 2013, the Federation of Tamil Sangams of North America’s (FeTNA) 26th year convention will be held in Toronto, Canada. This is the first time in its history that the convention will be held outside the USA.

Since 1987, FeTNA has presented a mega event, in a different state and city every year, where Tamils of North America get together, celebrate their culture, enjoy music, dance, and meet various artists and performers from India. FeTNA has grown from just five Sangams to becoming a successful umbrella organization of over 40 Tamil Sangams.

“We congratulate FeTNA on their Silver Jubilee convention” said David Poopalapillai, National Spokesperson for the Canadian Tamil Congress. “This is definitely one of the biggest events of this scale held by Tamils in North America and we are excited to be hosting FeTNA in Toronto in 2013.”

FeTNA is a non-profit, literary, cultural, charitable, and nonpartisan organization that aims to cultivate, promote and foster the advancement of knowledge in Tamil language, history, literature and culture. By providing a platform for Tamil Sangams in the USA and Canada to connect and share resources, FeTNA’s annual convention has become a must-attend event and the highlight of Tamil entertainment in North America.

Ever since becoming a member organization of FeTNA in 2010, CTC has demonstrated its commitment to increasing the awareness and participation in FeTNA conventions. Given the large population of Tamils in Canada, CTC is confident that the 26th Convention in Toronto will prove to be an unprecedented success.

Over the next few months, as CTC communicates the plans for the conference, CTC looks forward to working with Tamil Canadian organizations, businesses and community members to ensure the FeTNA 2013 convention is a grand success.

The Canadian Tamil Congress (CTC) is a non-profit organization which serves as the voice of Tamil Canadians. Headquartered in Toronto, the CTC has chapters across the country and an elected board of directors. The non-partisan organization works as the community’s spokesperson on the municipal, provincial, federal and international levels.

For more information on the Canadian Tamil Congress, please visit www. canadiantamilcongress.ca or call (416) 240-0078.

Sri Lanka & Kohona Gun for UN Budget Post While Press Threatened

By Matthew Russell Lee, Exclusive

UNITED NATIONS, July 9 -- Earlier this year, after a backroom process involving Saudi Arabia, the Asia Group at the UN nominated Sri Lanka for its seat on Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's Senior Advisory Group on Peacekeeping Operations.

Then Sri Lanka named as its representative to SAG General Shavendra Silva, whose battalion is depicted in Ban's own experts' report on Sri Lanka as engaged in war crimes in May 2009.

Now, Inner City Press has exclusively learned, Sri Lanka is gaining the Asia Group nomination to head the UN's Fifth (Budget) Committee, in the person of Palitha Kohona, who also figures in Ban Ki-moon's report and had a described role in luring surrenderees out, where they were killed.

Beyond Inner City Press' reporting on Silva and Kohona,see this profile of Kohona and war crimes in the Sidney Morning Herald in Australia, where Kohona is also a citizen,click here to view.

While Sri Lanka has circled the wagons and maintains the Silva is on the SAG, chairperson Louise Frechette has ruled he cannot participate. Silva has been conveniently "out of town" during at least the last two sets of two-day meetings of the SAG. This would not be acceptable on the Fifth Committee.

Questions are beginning to arise if this is now the right person to head the UN's budget committee. Projects in the UK led to a recent cancellation of a speech with the Queen by Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Over this past weekend, his brother Gotabaya Rajapaksa the defense minister shouted as an investigative journalist, "the people will kill you!"

Inner City Press asked Ban's deputy spokesman about it, and was told that of course Ban hasn't heard of it. Fifth Committee here we come? Watch this site.

Monday, July 9, 2012

Sri Lanka plans to amend press law to include websites

(Reuters) - Sri Lanka will amend a decades-old media law in order to bring in all news websites and electronic media under regulation, the government said on Monday, a week after it raided and temporarily closed down two anti-government websites.

Keheliya Rambukwella speaks to reporters in Colombo February 9, 2010.

Credit: Reuters/Dinuka Liyanawatte/Files

The amendments to the Press Council Law enacted in 1973 will allow the government to order websites and electronic media to follow media codes in addition to print media.

"We will bring amendments to the Press Council Law to include the electronic and web media to ensure accountability," Media Minister Keheliya Rambukwella told Reuters without elaborating.

Sri Lanka ended a nearly three-decade civil war with Tamil separatists in 2009 that saw censorship and restrictions on reporting, including banning the rebels' main website in 2008.

But since the war's end, the government has not eased press freedom, drawing criticism from the United States and European Union among others for arrests of journalists critical of the government.

In March, the government censored mobile news alerts about the military or police.

Sri Lankan media groups slammed the move to amend the press law.

"This is obviously to control the media," said Manik de Silva, a director of Sri Lanka's Press Complaint Commission and a member of the country's Editor's Guild.

"Any strengthening of media laws will be used to further the interest of political parties in power rather than the national interest."

(Reporting by Ranga Sirilal and Shihar Aneez; Editing by Ed Lane)

India guarded in talks with Lanka

Jul 10, 2012 - PARUL CHANDRA

India, it appears, adopted the role of the big brother rather than big bully during national security advisor (NSA) Shivshankar Menon’s recent visit to Sri Lanka to discuss the reconciliation process involving Sri Lankan Tamils.

While it was widely expected that there would be some tough talking by the NSA during the visit with regard to the reconciliation process, it’s learnt that the Indian approach was guarded. Yet, Mr Menon did convey to the Sri Lankan leadership, including President Mahinda Rajapakse, New Delhi’s “concern” over the “slow progress” in devolution of powers to the Sri Lankan Tamils which would lead to their permanent reconciliation.

At the same time, Mr Menon, while speaking to the media after his meetings, chose his words carefully, stating, “Political reconciliation is clearly a Sri Lankan issue which Sri Lanka has to do.” He also said that India’s engagement with Sri Lanka on this issue is to get the reconciliation process to the right place.

Colombo, it’s understood, feels that it has not changed its India policy despite the pressure on it from New Delhi to be more pro-active on the issue of reconciliation.

Neither has India’s vote on a resolution against Sri Lanka at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) some months ago soured bilateral ties, said sources.

Sri Lanka, in fact, has already permitted a threemember team to visit the country as part of the review of its human rights record to be done by the UNHRC.

Mr Menon who has served as India’s envoy to Sri Lanka was on his sixth visit to the country since the 2009 defeat of the LTTE by its armed forces. The NSA was also reportedly told by the Sri Lankan President that there can be no devolution until all political parties agree on a package for all the provinces.

A parliamentary standing committee is presently working on finalising this package. However, the Tamil National Alliance, Sri Lanka’s main Tamil party, has refused to be part of this parliamentary panel so far on the grounds that similar panels in the past have failed to deliver anything concrete.

Sri Lanka's former army chief Sarath Fonseka calls for Arab Spring-style uprising

War Criminals

Former Army Commander General Sarath Fonseka, Pesident Rajapakse and Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapakse. SLA command complicit in Vanni massacre (Courtesy: Sunday Observer)

SLA command complicit in Vanni massacre (Courtesy: Sunday Observer)

Sky News interview before
Puthukkudiyiruppu Hospital attack

TELEGRAPH.CO.UK

Sri Lanka's former army chief Sarath Fonseka calls for Arab Spring-style uprising

General Sarath Fonseka, the former Sri Lankan army chief jailed for running as an opposition candidate, has declared he will lead an Arab Spring-style uprising to force the government from office.

By Dean Nelson, Colombo 08 Jul 2012

Sri Lanka's former army chief General Sarath Fonseka Photo: REUTERS

Outlining his return to active politics after he was released from jail in May following pressure from the United States, Gen Fonseka sought to scotch speculation he had struck a deal with the government to keep a low political profile.

Instead he launched a bitter attack on President Rajapaksa, whom he accused of persecuting his family and terrorising opponents, and pledged a new campaign to topple his government. "I'm definitely asking people to rise up," and "overthrow the government by democratic methods," he said.

Speaking to The Daily Telegraph he denounced his former commander-in-chief as a "dictator" and called on the international community to "de-recognise" the government.

General Fonseka criticised British prime minister David Cameron for meeting President Rajapaksa at a Jubilee lunch in London last month and said the international community must instead isolate his government to stop its abuses.

"[They should] derecognise the government and give protection to the people...if there is a dictator violating human rights and the democracy of the people, I think the world will have to take care of that.

He cited a series of abuses by pro-government politicians including rapes and murders of opponents and pointed to an incident in February when police opened fire on a crowd of 5000 fishermen, including women and children, protesting against rising fuel prices. One fisherman was killed and three were wounded.

Two teenage girls were recently gang-raped by suspected pro-government figures while two members of the JVP which supported his presidential campaign were shot dead by motorcycle gunmen last month.

"You have seen how it took place in other countries and how those people were rescued from tyrannical regimes. I hope and pray it will not be like Libya," he said.

Despite his family's "sacrifices", he said he was happy to be the figurehead of opposition.

"It's a sacrifice I'm making in order to get freedom and democratic rights for the people of this country .They are sacrifices, but otherwise who will stand against the mal-practices of this government and those who control this country?" he said.

Despite being banned from standing for election for the next seven years, General Fonseka remains a popular hero in Sri Lanka for leading its armed forces to victory in its 27 year civil war with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in 2009. He was hailed by large crowds at rallies throughout the country but his popularity led to a rift with President Rajapaksa and his brother, the defence secretary Gotabaya.

Gen Fonseka said although the victory was not his alone, "I commanded the army to victory, I planned the operations and commanded the troops...I definitely feel proud," he said.

He eventually resigned later that year and challenged Mahinda Rajapaksa in the 2010 presidential election. He was defeated in what he denounced as a rigged ballot and was later jailed for three years on corruption charges and stripped of his rank, medals and pension.

He spent the next two years in jail where he was held in solitary confinement "24 hours a day" and denied contact with other prisoners, he said. His son-in-law disappeared amid rumours that the government was seeking his arrest and has now been missing for two and a half years, while his wife was unable to rent or buy a home because government officials threatened potential sellers and landlords. "Now the intelligence bureau follow me wherever I go, even to weddings," he said.

He dismissed allegations that Sri Lankan troops committed war crimes but criticised the government for failing to answer them fully. He was ready to face any accusations and denied his army had targeted civilians sheltering in a no-fire zone in the last stages of the war – estimates of civilians deaths range from 9,000 to 40,000.