VIDEO: 13-YEAR-OLD RAPED BY STEPFATHER

Police have arrested a man from Sivadagama in Mahawa accused of raping his 13-year-old stepdaughter. 

Acting on information received by the police emergency service 119, Mahawa Police arrested the girl’s 60-year-old stepfather, under suspicion.

He is to be produced before the Mahawa Magistrate’s Court today (27). 

 

Sri Lanka war crime cases may take five years - govt

By Shihar Aneez

COLOMBO, July 26 | Fri Jul 27, 2012 2:51am IST

(Reuters) - Sri Lanka said on Thursday it would take as long as five years to try people accused of carrying out atrocities at the end of its three-decade civil war, as part of a national action plan that was quickly derided by opposition critics.

The government has faced international condemnation over its civil rights record, particularly over its final military campaign against separatist Tamil Tigers that the United Nations said killed tens of thousands of civilians in 2009.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa's government has rejected U.N. calls for an international investigation into the reported atrocities and appointed a Sri Lankan commission a year after the end of the conflict to run its own probe.

The government had already said it would follow the recommendations by the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC). On Thursday it released a timetable (link.reuters.com/gem69s) laying out when it would put the recommendations into effect.

First on the list was a plan giving military authorities a year to complete investigations into reports of the killings of civilians. That was followed by another two years to draw up prosecutions and another two years to take them through the court system.

"Complex issues are here. We need to look at those things very carefully and objectively ... We ... are trying to take this forward, taking the LLRC recommendations very seriously," Lalith Weeratunga, the president's secretary who headed the team that drew up the action plan, told journalists.

Opposition politicians said they suspected the new plan was a ploy to reduce international scrutiny.

"The government is violating human rights domestically but just issuing reports to mislead the international community," said Vijitha Herath, a Marxist opposition parliamentarian.

Kusal Perera, a government critic and director of the Centre for Social Democracy, called the action plan a "total bluff" and said the government had already failed to follow through on a number of the commission's recommendations.

"They say they have already implemented independent commissions, but nothing has happened," he told Reuters, referring to the LLRC recommendations on establishing independent police and public service commissions.

Slow progress of rolling out the LLRC's 285 recommendations prompted a U.N. resolution in March which said Sri Lanka should ensure government troops who committed war crimes should be brought to justice.

In May the island nation's government released from prison opposition politician and former army chief Sarath Fonseka, a move welcomed by Washington, which considered him a political prisoner.

Rights groups have long accused the Rajapaksa government of suppressing press freedom and carrying out abductions. Rajapaksa and his government say such reports are politically motivated. (Additional reporting by Ranga Sirilal; Editing by Andrew Heavens)

6% of GDP For Education: Who Is Telling The Truth?

By Nirmal Ranjith  Dewasiri -July 27, 2012

Dr. Nirmal Ranjith Dewasiri

Federation of University Teachers’ Associations (FUTA) is asking the government to prioritise education and to invest in education. Towards this end FUTA has shown a concrete figure of measurement: the allocation on education as a percentage of GDP. This is a globally accepted measurement and the figure of 6% has been agreed to by the Sri Lankan government at many forums. FUTA has also shown that the government is not anywhere close to meeting this standard. Instead of engaging meaningfully with FUTA on this issue and trying to figure out a way of meeting its commitments, the government is spending its energy on trying to show not only that FUTA is wrong, but that these internationally accepted benchmarks which are used not only by Sri Lanka but all other countries are wrong! It is also bending over backwards to suggest that investing more in education is impossible and by implication, not necessary. This simply means, the government is saying it is NOT interested in education. The government is asking the public, the citizens of this country to take the responsibility for education. The government is stating over and over again, that it is simply not willing to allocate funds for education. It is saying this while it has shown its willingness to allocate funds for other, arguably less critical sectors. This is definitely not the mandate with which this government came into power. It is definitely not the legacy to which the constituent parties of this government can lay claim to. No other government has dared to so openly declare its intentions of divesting itself of the responsibility for education. Does this government want to be remembered as that which was responsible for the destruction of education in Sri Lanka?

Part I

FUTA’s response to the attempt by the government to suggest that currently the spending on education amounts to about 5% of GDP

Read More

No Country, No Problem: How to Make the Games Without a Nation
By Sean Gregory / London | July 26, 2012



 If Olympic marathoner Guor Marial wins a gold medal, the "Olympic Hymn" — yes, there actually is one, and yes, it has words — would be played in place of a national anthem.

DARRYL WEBB / REUTERS

Guor Marial, 28, poses in his bedroom in Flagstaff, Ariz., on July 21, 2012

If Olympic marathoner Guor Marial wins the gold medal on the Aug. 12, he’ll proudly stand atop the podium while an anthem plays over the loudspeakers:

Immortal spirit of antiquity,
Father of the true, beautiful and good,
Descend, appear, shed over us thy light
Upon this ground and under this sky
Which has first witnessed thy unperishable fame.

If these lyrics sound totally unfamiliar, take heart: they’re not part of any national anthem, because Marial is the first Olympian to ever compete without a country.

Marial — who hails from South Sudan, which just celebrated its first birthday as a country — will compete as an independent athlete at the London Olympics, under the auspices of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). So if he wins a gold medal, the “Olympic Hymn” — yes, there actually is one, and yes, it has words — would be played in place of a national anthem. If he is able to take part in the opening ceremony — his U.S.-based lawyer is trying to rush the documents — he will march under the five-ringed Olympic flag. Independent falls between Iceland and India in the parade of nations. “It’s like he’s from nowhere,” says Pere Miró, the IOC’s director of relations with national Olympic committees.

Marial is a refugee from the Sudanese civil war; he’s been living in the U.S. since 2001. He has a green card and refugee status, but is not a U.S. citizen. Marial does not have citizenship, or a passport, from South Sudan either. But even if he did, he could not compete for South Sudan, since it has no Olympic team. Organizing a national Olympic committee is not at the top of South Sudan’s priority list. “There’s very little structure there for sports right now,” says Miró.

On July 21, the IOC finalized its decision to offer Marial a spot in the Olympics. His emergence was totally unexpected. “It was very strange,” says Miró. “He just appeared, suddenly.”

It all started last fall, the night before the Twin Cities Marathon, when Marial met Brad Poore, a California-based attorney and elite distance runner. The next day Marial, a former cross-country runner at Iowa State University who was running in his first marathon, finished in 2:14:32. That time was good enough to meet the Olympic qualifying standard. So Poore took up his case right away, knowing that even though Marial could not compete for the U.S., he still deserved a spot in the Games. “It’s kind of been a global effort to get him there,” says Poore.

Poore contacted the IOC to initiate the process. Miró, a veteran sports official from Spain, says that every Olympics, he receives dozens of claims about deserving Olympians who organized sporting bodies might be missing. “We have to be very, very diligent and selective,” says Miró. “We cannot act all the time.” The first step — verifying that the performance is true and that the athlete in question exists. Miró communicated with track and field’s world governing body, the International Association of Athletics Federations to confirm Marial’s amazing debut-marathon time. Indeed, it was for real.

(MORE: Mexico 1968: What Really Happened When Two Americans Raised Their Fists)

Now, Marial needed a home. Marial could have run for Sudan, but he rejected that option immediately. Marial was not about to represent the country he fled. He says he lost 28 family members to violence or sickness during the civil war that compelled the south to split away from Sudan. When he was younger, Marial was kidnapped from the south and forced to work in Sudan as a child laborer. The Sudanese police once broke Marial’s jaw with rifle butts after they arrested his uncle, who was accused of working with south Sudanese rebels.

After fleeing to Egypt, Marial — a long shot to win the gold medal, but a possible top 2o finisher — was granted refugee status in the U.S. and moved to Concord, N.H., in 2001. He earned a scholarship to Iowa State University and became an All-American in his junior year in 2009. The president of Refugees International lobbied for Marial, and a day before the IOC made its decision to allow Marial to compete as an independent athlete, New Hampshire Senator Jeanne Shaheen wrote the IOC a letter. “Given Mr. Marial’s story, his running under the flag of Sudan would be simply wrong,” Shaheen wrote. “I believe there is only one solution to the challenges facing his participation at the 2012 London Games: Mr. Marial should be permitted by the International Olympic Committee to participate as an independent participant, competing under the great Olympic flag.”

Marial is not the first athlete to compete under the Olympic flag. At the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France, six former Soviet Republics — Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Uzbekistan and Armenia — competed as the Unified Team. The Olympic flag was raised at medals ceremonies, and the “Olympic Hymn” played when the team won one of its nine gold medals at those Games. In 2000, a runner and a weight lifter from East Timor — like South Sudan a new nation without an Olympic committee — participated as independents. And in London, Marial won’t be the lone athlete hoping to hear the Olympic anthem on the medal stand. Three athletes from the former Netherlands Antilles, which dissolved in 2010 and no longer has an Olympic committee, will also march under the Olympic flag.

Still, Marial is unique. Since he holds no passports or citizenships, he’s really the first Olympian without any true country, says the IOC. If Marial runs a strong marathon, here’s a safe bet: the whole world will be looking to claim him.

MORE: 50 Olympic Athletes To Watch

Read other related stories about this:

• For South Sudanese Marathoner, Olympics Would Be Ultimate Refuge Chicago Tribune
• Runner Without Country To Compete In Olympics Associate Press (via Seattle Times)

KALUTARA PS CHAIRMAN CAUGHT TAKING RS.3 MILLION BRIBE

July 27, 2012


The Kalutara Pradeshiya Sabha chairman and his assistant have been arrested by the Bribery Commission for accepting a bribe of Rs. 3 million, for developing a property at Nagoda. 

Democracy, Trust And WikiLeaks: A Conversation With The Mother Of Julian Assange

By Vivian Norris -July 27, 2012

“Mr. Assange’s only crime is that he cared enough about people to respect their right to truth, and had the courage and bravery to print the truth. In the process, he embarrassed powerful governments.” –Nobel Laureate Mairead Maguire

“As a mother, of course I wish he had never done it — because now he is being politically persecuted, risks being tortured — but as a citizen what he and WikiLeaks have done is the best of investigative journalism bringing mainstream media approved by governments and big corporations to task. This is what journalists were originally supposed to do… they are there to help hold governments accountable. If the justice system is no longer independent and the media is no longer independent and no one is holding the government accountable, we do not have a democracy anymore.” — Christine Assange, mother of WikiLeaks’ founder Julian Assange

I responded immediately when Christine Assange, the mother of WikiLeaks’ founder, Julian Assange, said she was available for an interview. I know that so many people have become outraged by what they have learned via WikiLeaks, not because no other country is doing these things, but because the United States of America is supposed to be better than this, is supposed to be about democracy and justice and freedom. I also do not believe that democracy is strong if it cannot resist being questioned, admit it has made serious errors, prosecute those who have made those errors and stop trying to control to such a degree that liberty is weakened.

 Read More

Rajapakse helicopter mania – Rs. 2160 million into whose pocket ?

(Lanka-e-News- 25.July.2012, 11.55 PM) Following the LeN exposure of the Mahinda Rajapakse helicopter purchase racket of 14 MI 171 helicopters costing US dollars 300, another media too had reported on it.

After reading that news , a number of questions have begun to prey on my mind. Vide the pictures herein. These are the details revealed by Avia dealer sales Co. - the Int. airlines and helicopter sales dealers. According to them , they sell an M I 171 category helicopter at a price of US $ 9.75 million. That is tax excluded price. Since the SL Govt. is to purchase 14 such helicopters on a n agreement with Russia – the price ought to be still less , and tax – free. 

If any additional amounts are to get added to the price , they must be the insurance payment and transport charges . If a maximum price is to be given to an MI 14 helicopter , that should be assessed as US $ 10 million maximmum. In that event the 14 helicopters should cost US $ 140 million. But as reported by the LeN and the other website , Russia has collected a sum of US $ 300 million from the SL Govt. Now , my confusion is based on the following : 

For a deal which should be concluded for US $ 140 million , why was US $ 300 million paid ? Where did this extra payment of US $ 160 million go? Did they go down the drain or into someone’s /group’s open pockets ? Mind you this is not just a paltry sum – it is Rs. 21600 million in SL rupees ! . Besides these are not monies of any family or ruler , these are hard earned monies of the people who are deprived of their justifiable salary increases and suffering on account of the country’s current economic bungling.

There is another fact to be highlighted in this regard. 

Since the advent of the Rajapakse family govt. , the whole family is using the helicopters for their travel. Namal Rajapakse M P recently arrived for a function of Dilan Perera of Badulla in a helicopter for distribution of computers , but the number of computers distributed was just five. He returned to Colombo too in the helicopter.

Is SL a country that rich to use helicopters to travel to Badulla to distribute five computers? Moreover , if Namal M .P. is allowed to use helicopters for his travel , will other MPs be allowed to use helicopters for their traveling purposes?

Shiranthi Madam travels to and from Carlton Montessori by helicopter . Loving son Yoshitha goes to witness rugby matches in Kandy by helicopter. So do the other son Rohitha , brothers Basil and Gotabaya, the Rajapassas of Maha -Raja-pakse.

If Minister Basil is given helicopter transport , why not the other Ministers? If Secretary Gota can use helicopters for his travel , why not other Secretaries.? But that does not happen that way.

This helicopter mania may belong to the Rajapakses and Rajapassas , but the monies paid for their frolic and fun are out of funds belonging to the poor people of this country. Did the people elect these maniacs for them to enjoy and people to suffer ?

Lest the Rajapakses have forgotten , the mother of the former President of SL , Chandrika Kumaratunge when the latter was the President ,was a n invalid , and traveled in a wheel chair while her brother , a Minister was a chronic arthritis patient . Couldn’t they have traveled in helicopters being physically disabled patients? May be the Rajapakses are of the view that only mental and maniacal patients like themselves must use the helicopters , not the physically disabled . It is also well to remember no previous Presidents of this country wasted this colossal amount of monies to gratify their personal pleasures and frivolities. Neither did they travel by helicopters so recklessly wasting people’s funds. In the circumstances , it is my considered opinion that after the Rajapkses and Rajapassas the worst curse has descended on this country.

-A Govt. servant – a true patriot

Beruwela children’s home under sex abuse probe – HR Chief

Justice Secretary proposes constant monitoring, new laws

July 25, 2012, 10:08 pm 

By Shamindra Ferdinando

Justice Secretary Mrs. Kamalini de Silva and Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka Chief Dr. Prathiba Mahanamahewa yesterday said there was an urgent need to monitor children’s homes properly.

Constant monitoring would be required to prevent children from being sexually abused by their guardians, they said.

The Justice Secretary and Human Rights Commissioner were responding to our news item on Wednesday that an 84-year-old ex-planter had sexually abused 14 little girls at an orphanage he had set up in Mawanella.

Chief Inspector Athula Amarasena, Officer-in-Charge of the Mawanella police yesterday said that they were in the process of recording more statements from the suspects. The victims had been subject to medical examination at the government hospital at Kegalle, he said, adding that the police were also in touch with Sabaragamuwa Province Probation and Childcare authorities.

Police officials told The Island that the actual number of victims could be very much higher than the number of complaints so far received.

The Human Rights Commissioner revealed that authorities were now in the process of investigating widespread child abuse at a children’s home at Beruwela. According to him, the man who ran the orphanage and a matron were under investigation.

Justice Secretary de Silva pointed out that the Justice Ministry had made available what she called a model law as regards children in judicial protection/process to Provincial Councils as it was a devolved subject. The proposed law would be subject to approval by Provincial Councils, she said.

Asked whether the government would implement recommendations with regard to Juvenile Justice Laws made by a committee headed by Justice Shiranee Thilakawardena [Chairperson] during the tenure of Milinda Moragoda as the Minister of Justice and Law Reforms, the Justice Secretary said that the ministry was in the process of implementing them.

The Justice Secretary was also a member of the Thilakawardena Committee, which included Justice N. K. Udalagama, Director Judges’ Institute, Justice L. K. Wimalachandra, Retired Judge of the Court of Appeal, Prof. Diyanath Samarasinghe, Psychiatrist, Mrs Kamalini de Silva, Additional Secretary (Legal), Ministry of Justice and Law Reforms, Jagath Wellawatte, Chairman, National Child Protection Authority, Dr. Hiranthi Wijemanne, Consultant, Bureau of the Commissioner General of Rehabilitation, M. G. W. M. Muthubanda, Director –Bureau for the Protection of Abuse of Children and Women, Sarath Abeygunawardena, Commissioner of Probation and Child Care, Dr. Hemal Jayawardena, Child Protection Specialist- UNICEF, Sajeewa Samaranayake, Consultant – UNICEF, Ms. Shaneli Athukorala , Programme Specialist, Save the Children Sri Lanka, Harshana Nanayakkara, Consultant, Save the Children Sri Lanka, Ms. Hemantha Wanniarachchi, Senior Asst. Secretary, Ministry of Child Development and Women’s Empowerment.

The Human Rights Commissioner emphasised that the government needed to act swiftly and decisively without being distracted by other issues. It would be a mistake to believe that one institution could tackle the issue, he said. "What we urgently need is a cohesive effort by all institutions responsible for safety and security of the children. There are obviously serious lapses as well as shortcomings on the part various institutions involved in the effort."

When it was pointed out that the public had lost faith in both the police and the judiciary especially due to bail given to several suspects in child abuse cases Police Spokesman SP Ajith Rohana acknowledged that there were some black sheep among the over 80,000 officers and men in the Police Department. Commenting on the arrest of a Sergeant for gang raping the girl, SP Rohana said that stern action would be against such elements. The Island pointed out that the policeman had been bailed out along with other suspects, whereas over 20 persons taken in connection with the gang rape of another teenager in Tangalle remained in custody, the police spokesman said that giving bail was the prerogative of the judicial officers.

Short Story: Dream Of Mahinda

By Koom Kankesan -July 25, 2012

Koom Kankesan

Mahinda Rajapaksa took tea with his newly appointed Secretary of Mass Media, Charitha Herath. Herath had not touched his tea yet and fiddled with a stack of dossiers, clipped articles, and e-mail printouts. Two sugar cubes still sat on his saucer, unstirred, and the man’s sleepy eyes belied a nervous cough. Rajapaksa had always been suspicious of men whose complexion was too light; he looked at the Minister’s large ears and acorn shaped head, waved him to go on.

“What other news?” he asked the secretary as he stirred his own tea with a stick of cinnamon, taking an impossibly long time to soften. He liked the cinnamon because it was so hard and tart.

“Some offers from India,” replied Herath, coughing into his right fist and riffling through the printed e-mails.

“No need to show me. Just tell me about it.”

“Well, I informed them you weren’t probably interested, but one of the larger networks proposed doing a big big Reality TV show with Gota, your brother.”

“Oh yes?” Why not me? thought Rajapaksa.

“It’s not something you’d want to do,” stated Herath boldly. He had read Rajapaksa’s mind and realizing he had been too forward, dialled backwards on himself and simpered appeasingly: “They want to make it like The Apprentice in America with Donald Trump. They would call it The Fourth Estate and journalists would compete to write a story on current events. They would compete each week, overseen by Gota, and if he didn’t like what they wrote, he’d fire them. One by one, they’re all fired and the lone winner, with Ministry approval, gets to publish his article. It’s nonsense. The catchphrase they want to use is ‘You’re censored!‘ Mark my words. Nothing will come of it.”

“Okay. What else?”                       Read More

A contempt of court action by the Chief Justice

Thursday, 26 July 2012

The Chief Justice is currently stating that the attack on the Mannar courthouse by fishermen in the area under the instigation of Minister Rishard Bathiudeen was a personal issue with Mannar Magistrate Judeson and that matter should be allowed to be resolved between the persons involved since the Magistrate is a close friend of the President and MP Namal Rajapaksa, sources from the Judges Association said.

The Chief Justice who was a firm stance against the incident has now changed her stance and is engaged in making personal phone calls to judges around the country. She has told them that the judiciary should not get involved in the executive’s actions and that this issue would also be resolved like the rest of the issue.

She has said that there was no need to engage in a strike and make various comments to the media.

A member of the Judges Association who spoke to us said that the reason for the sudden U-turn in the Chief Justice’s stance was the threat by the government to bring an impeachment motion against her in the House.

The member said there was no surprise to see in the Chief Justice’s stance after receiving the threat.

Large number of Lawyers go in procession. Some others to file action against Minister

(Lanka-e-News- 25.July.2012, 11.55 PM) Following the threats made to the Mannar Magistrate and the stoning of the courts by Minister Rishard Badurdeen , and when the Lawyers Association President Wijedasa Rajapakse slipped away from filing action against the Minister, a large number of Lawyers arrived in Colombo and staged a massive demonstration against the Govt.’s unlawful actions.

The Lawyers had two demands to make : 

Immediately remove Minister Rishard Badurdeen the hooligan Minister from his Ministerial post ; and to enforce the law against him. About 500 Lawyers who assembled near the Aluthkade courts complex staged the protests carrying placards and shouting slogans , and then went in a procession. 

Thereafter they held a meeting when Lawyers , C Weliamuna, Gunaratne Wanninayake, Upul Jayasooriya, Ratnavale and others addressed the meeting. They said , Minister Badurdeen who insulted the judiciary , trampled and kicked the rule of law and legal foundation should be taken into custody , and the laws duly enforced . The Govt . had not even condemned this action they lamented .

One of the slogans read ‘ after burning the courts the corrupt politician is fiddling’. Meanwhile , Wijedasa Rajapakse , the President of the Lawyers association who postponed the filing of legal action, along with Sanjaya Gamage , the secretary and its Executive committee members were to meet the President this afternoon , according to unofficial reports. Some of the Lawyers frowned on this as another conspiracy of MaRa .

No matter what , another group of 8 Lawyers were getting ready to independently file action against the Minister under charges of contempt of court, These lawyers included PC Srinath Perera , Senior Lawyers Sunil Cooray ,Lal Wijenaike, Lawyer Chandrapala Kumarage PC Jeffrey Alagaratne, , senior Lawyer E C Peranda and Lawyer Ms. Nalini K Walitunge . They were in the process of finalizing this move.

The lawyers were disappointed over the lukewarm attitude of UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe who is himself a Lawyer , as the UNP had so far not even issued a notice condemning this action of the Minister . The UNP had even failed to propel at least the UNP Executive Committee member Wijedasa Rajapakse , the Lawyers Association President to move forward on this issue, the Lawyers stated with disillusionment.

Sri Lanka unveils action plan for implementation of report
July 26, 2012,

The Sri Lankan cabinet has approved the action plan for the implementation of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC), the government spokesman and minister of information Keheliya Rambukawella said.

The action plan assumes much significance in the light of the UN human rights council resolution adopted late March against Sri Lanka.

The US-sponsored and India-backed resolution urged the Colombo government to expeditiously implement the LLRC recommendations in order to achieve reconciliation with the island's Tamil minority.

"The government has dispelled all doubts about its sincerity in trying to implement the recommendations", Rambukwella told reporters.

The paper presented in the cabinet by president Mahinda Rajapaksa had said that 285 recommendations in the report were classified into four main groups; relating to national policy, pertaining to the final phase of the conflict, human rights and national security concerns and resettlement and development.
The action plan sets out some of the LLRC recommendations as ongoing in the process of implementation.
The time scales for implementation vary between 6 to 18 months while some of the other recommendations are shown as those requiring longer; between 1 to 3 years for implementation.
The recommendations on accountability for human rights abuses are to be implemented between 12 and 24 months.
Payment of compensation to the lands currently being used by the state in the national security perspective and land alienation in the former conflict zones are the recommendations that fall into the three-year time frame for implementation.
The LLRC was appointed by Rajapaksa in May 2010 to look back at the separatist conflict launched by the LTTE and fought over three decades.
It was mandated to recommend ways to prevent a repetition of such a conflict.
Sri Lanka faced criticism in the international fora for apparent dragging of feet in implementing the recommendations of its own reconciliation commission.

Defense tools for Sri Lanka's online onslaught

Press Freedom News and Views

By Bob Dietz/CPJ Asia Program Coordinator

Sanjana Hattotuwa, the founder of the citizen journalism website Groundviews, sent us the links to a new series of posters and videos focused on digital communications security. The material, which is aimed at a Sri Lankan audience, is available in English, Sinhala, and Tamil, but is relevant to anyone who uses the Internet or a mobile phone.

Hattotuwa asked that the links be shared as widely as possible. "Awareness on these issues is absolutely critical, especially at a juncture when the government is actively pursuing even more draconian and antiquated laws to censor inconvenient content online, and viciously target producers of such content," he said in an email.

The "draconian and antiquated laws" he mentions are wrapped up in a July 13announcement by Keheliya Rambukwella, the minister of mass media and information. According to Rambukwella, new regulations were being implemented in which news websites would be charged a registration fee of 100,000 Sri Lankan rupees (US$750), along with a 50,000 rupee (US$375) annual re-registration fee. The minister said that the charges would "ensure that contents of the websites do not harm defenseless individuals."

In addition, the ministry also said, on its website the week before, that an amendment to the Sri Lankan Press Council Act of 1973 would incorporate the monitoring of news websites in order to prevent "mud-slinging" and to allow "new regulations ... and guidelines aimed at streamlining websites."

With the growth of digital media, the government's attention has increasingly been directed at online sites. The most recent incident came in late June, when police raided the Colombo offices of the Sri Lanka Mirror and Sri Lanka X News and rounded up the staff. According to the ministry's post, when Rambukwella was asked about the shutdown of two "mud-slinging" websites, the minister said that several allegations had been made against the two websites. "I'm not in a position to divulge information right now, but there have been various allegations against these websites," he said.

Nor has Rambukwella discussed the websites that had been temporarily blocked in November. The BBC reported that several sites had been shut down for maligning top government officials, including engaging in "character assassination" of Rajapaksa. And in May, Sri Lanka's Supreme Court slammed the door on a case about the shutdown of four websites that had failed to register with the government. In giving its decision, the court appeared to rule that freedom of expression in Sri Lanka was not an absolute right and could be restricted--and that you didn't need to pass a law to do so.

The government's various rationales for its anti-online campaign are hard to reconcile with the climate of intense intimidation and violence against critical opposition journalists. At least 23 Sri Lankan journalists have gone into exile, fearing retaliation, CPJ research shows. The country ranks fourth in the world in combating anti-press violence, according to CPJ's global Impunity Index.

The latest crime statistics to the Defence Secretary’s attention

Thursday, 26 July 2012 

There have been five murders, 18 cases of child abuse, a mysterious death believed to be a murder and a suicide within 48 hours after Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa made a public statement that there is no crime wave in the country. Police officers say that these statistics clearly indicate the Defence Secretary’s general knowledge on the matter.

The Defence Secretary said on Monday (23) that there was no crime wave in the country and making such statements would hamper the development, investment inflows to the country and the tourism industry. He made this comment at a seminar at the Government Information Department.

A double murder was reported in Katuwana, which is in the Defence Secretary, Hambantota area, the same day and there was also another murder reported from Karandeniya. On the 24th there was an attempt to murder a new born baby in Badulla and another murder was reported from the Gampaha District.

The 18 cases of child abuse were reported from a children’s home in Mawanella (15 children), a 10 year old girl in Kandy, a 14 year old girl in Bakamuna and a 13 year old girl in Wattegama. Also, a suicide was reported from Bulathsinhala and a 13 year old child from a children’s home in Makola was reported dead after falling into a well.

In order to improve the tourism industry, measures needed to be taken to provide security to the tourist who arrive in the country and prevent them from facing unfortunate incidents in the country. However, what taken place in Sri Lanka with state sponsorship is quite the contrary. Police officers who spoke about his issue said the Defence Secretary needed to explain how the tourism industry could be developed by releasing from custody the culprits who have been accused of sexually abusing foreign women who visit the country as tourists.

The Sri Lankan Media Must Not Expect Public Support Without Course Correction!

July 25, 2012

By Chandra Goonewardene -

Should not there be greater discussion on the ethics of the private media in manipulating what they publish or what they allow to be featured on their websites? The question is not of impolite language which needs to be ‘moderated”. The question is one of suppressing one set of views while giving free rein to the other.

The media is, of course, not alone in their culpability. Take non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Sri Lanka. Many of those heading these NGOs have been tarnished by extravagant lifestyles and by the thousands of money that they spend (virtually) on nothing at all. They have also spoilt the good name of others who engage in public spirited activism in the manner of many such efforts elsewhere in the Commonwealth.

Yet, this continuous NGO-bashing that some sections of the media engage in, appears to be a good campaign on which the government could then start witch-hunting selected NGO’s and then usefully subdue all others as well. If NGOs who are supposed to get cartloads of dollars are under investigation, it is a mystery as to why an NGO czar who famously said some years ago that he gets Rs one million as a regular monthly payment, is not under similar investigation and similarly targeted? Was this NGO czar omitted by these eager-beaver ‘journalists’ because he has close links to the Rajapaksas?

As someone pointed out recently, it is no coincidence that the loudest voices in the private media leading the campaign against non-governmental organizations, Malinda Seneviratne (Nation ), Rajpal Abeynayake(Lakbima) and CA Chandraprema (SundayIsland) have their bases in publishing companies that have direct links to the government.

The Lakbima is owned by Thilanga Sumathipala who has direct political links to the government and more importantly has fingers in the lucrative pie of the cricket industry. Some months ago, former captain of the Sri Lanka cricket team, and the only captain to bring home the World Cup, Arjuna Ranatunge raised fun all around when he made contemptuous remarks over the Sirasa channel in a panel discussion, referring to ‘cricket mudalalis’ whom he said was responsible more than politicians, for ruining the game. Sumathipala’s dubious background in wheeler dealing and his forays into newspaper publishing for the benefits that would gain him politically, are well known.

On the other hand, theIsland’s link to the government is also not a secret. As said in AsiaViews written by CPJ’s Bob Dietz and Shawn W Crispin (Attacks on the Press, 2010, Asia Analysis) Prabath Sahabandu, editor of The Island daily, had told CPJ that his paper’s pro-Rajapaksa stance was a natural fit: “This government was preoccupied with the war effort and we were also campaigning against terrorism as a newspaper. On this particular issue, we saw eye to eye. So we didn’t have the problems that other newspapers had.” Less said about the Nation, the better.

So, it could be said that, these are government mouthpieces, permitted to periodically castigate the government over corruption and such but never challenge government policy where it matters; ie questions of accountability. Earlier this year, many of these government propagandists in the private media went to Geneva for an all expenses paid trip by the government and acted as vicious hounds barking at every person who tried to criticize the government in the United Nations when the Human Rights Council vote was on. They not only failed in their task but also angered Western moderates and made other Sri Lankans cower in shame at their due and crude tactics! Some of these crude propagandists are members of the Editors Guild of Sri Lanka and ‘represent’ the Guild on occasion! To a non media person, this is an amusing thing to see, particularly when the Guild itself is rarely brought to public action on serious issues affecting the Sri Lankan media.

Media commentators who try to portray a different point of view then get attacked by these propagandists in a deliberate campaign. Some time ago, a balanced description of the strains that Sri Lankan NGOs are facing by Feizal Samath had been attacked (surprise! surprise!) by Malinda Seneviratne! I applaud principled columnists in the Sunday Times, Island and Sunday Leader who have taken on these attacks in very different styles of writing while others cower in fear. To give it credit and perhaps through a shrewd understanding of the need to preserve its credibility, theIslanddoes indeed at least give space to some views that are liberal in nature.

But this is not about individuals. Granted, the NGO sector may have lost public support in general. It should address this by internal self regulation, a stronger focus on public spiritedness and a gradual inching out of the rogues in their midst. But the Sri Lankan private media must also realise that it cannot look for any public support if it does not enforce professionalism among its ranks by whatever means necessary and in regard to what they choose to publish. Featuring advertisements on the Code of Ethics for journalists, holding meetings of the Press Complaints Commission and the Editors Guild, having glossy events and awards nights for journalists (which is presently more marked by ugly infighting) is not enough.

Discussions on media ethics must be brought to the forefront not only in closed discussions among media sympathisers but also featured in the pages of newspapers by editors and by senior journalists as I saw recently in the United Kingdom when visiting my daughter. As long as the Sri Lankan media and its industry lobbies are perceived to have agendas in the way that they function, hosting Awards Nights will not do to win public support. And if the media fritters away public support, it will be wide open to the government to attack it on all fronts which it is now doing anyway.