Sri Lanka: three years of imprisonment and torture, but he was innocent
09/07/2012 

 Sri Lanka: three years of imprisonment and torture, but he was innocent
by Melani Manel Perera
Muralitheran Raaja was arrested under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), a law that imprisons anyone "suspected" of having links to terrorism. In 2011 he was released and cleared of all charges. During his detention, his injuries were never treated.  

Colombo (AsiaNews) - "As suspected terrorist, I was taken to the police station Teldeniya. There, under the eyes of my mother, a dozen policemen beat me with kicks and punches. I had burns on my legs and wounds everywhere. The police tortured me all night. " So begins the testimony of Muralitheran Raaja, familiarly called Murali, a young native of Kandy (Central Province, Sri Lanka), who was arrested and imprisoned under thePrevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), the law allows the detention of anyone with suspected links to LTTE rebels (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam). After three years in prison on 8 December 2011, the High Court of Jaffna ordered his release without bail.

Muralitharan belongs to a Hindu family, but calls himself a strong believer in Jesus Christ. Free again, he found the help and support of Fr. Nandana Manatunge, who heads the Office for Human Rights of the diocese of Kandy. After a long process of rehabilitation, the young man decided to share his dramatic experience during a seminar dedicated to the survivors of the civil war, which was attended by about 60 people. At the meeting, held at Fatima Retreat House Lewella (Kandy), he attended with his parents.

"After Teldeniya - continues Muralitharan - I was detained in the Manikhinna police station for four months. On September 25, 2008 I met the Kandy magistrate for the first time, who ordered my transfer to prison Bogambara. I was never visited by the medical commission, nor did I ever receive any treatment for my wounds. Eventually, the prosecutor filed charges against me to the High Court of Jaffna. After five hearings, the court ordered my release the 8 December 2011, clearing me of all charges. "

After the young man's testimony, Fr. Manatunge spoke: "Prison conditions in Sri Lanka are horrifying. The mere fact of being locked in an over crowded remand prison is physical and mental torture. I met Murali when he was in Bogambara prison, and I could understand how much suffering he had to endure. Many believe that the detainees should live in inhuman conditions, only to later claims that they [too] are human beings."

According to the priest, even if "Murali was strong, he managed to survive, and is here today to talk with us," it is necessary "to launch a campaign calling on the government to sign the OPCAT (Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture ), the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCR), and make the country's prisons livable. "

SRI LANKA: Government using 'HiddenAgenda Theory' to suppress legitimateddemands of the University Community

Networking for Rights-September 6, 2012
In Sri Lanka the universities have remained closed since August 21, this year anduniversity staff has been on strike since July. The point of contention is a demand for a 20% pay hike, improved facilities and more government spending (6% of the GDP) on education. The demands of the Federation for University Teachers’ Association (FUTA) in July this year and has failed to yield any satisfactory result so far. Even in this crisis thegovernment is accusing the strikers of having “hidden political agenda” and the Ministerof Higher Education, S B Dissanayake has ordered all universities except the medical faculties closed. University staff and student who protested the move has been tear gassed.

Like a flash back to the late 1980’s, the government resorted to closing down Sri Lanka’s higher seats of learning to prevent the escalation of a crisis in the University sector.

Networking for Rights considers the action by the government to silence a legitimate demand by public servants as a violation of their rights and another move to curb dissent. A government which believes it has the support of the people should not fear in engaging with them and finding a solution that satisfies both parties. Instead, thegovernment believes that the “hidden political agenda” theory, which is being flouted again and again to silence everybody, could be used to whip up sentiments against theacademics and university students. Continued tactics to silence its citizenry will only result in people gathering together to topple the regime, as the government fears. A genuine democracy would promote freedom of expression, not suppress it. Each time universities are closed, or academics and students resort to strike action, Sri Lankan students are pushed back several years; the negative effects caused by universityclosures in the 1980’s is being felt even today. Those who can afford it, will leave thecountry and continue their education elsewhere, perhaps never to return. So woulduniversity staff. The loss is for Sri Lanka’s younger generation and the country as a whole.

Networking for Rights demands that the government not only to re-open the universities but also to engage in meaningful dialogue with the FUTA that would give both academics and students a fairer chance of reaching their potential. The government would do well towin the hearts and minds of both academics and the future leaders of Sri Lanka rather than treat them as foes.

NfR stand by the demands of the FUTA calls upon world academic community to showtheir solidarity and support for the legitimate demands of Sri Lankan academiccommunity and the strike action which has reached 3rd month.


C/O, 19447, Victory Blvd,#2, Reseda,CA 91335, USA NfR.SriLanka@gmail.com
Steering committee : Kshama Ranawana ( Canada), Lionel Bopage ( Australia), Nadarasa Sarawanan (Norway),
Nadarajah Kuruparan(UK) Padmi Liyanage (Germany), Raveendran Pradeepan (France), Rudhramoorthy Cheran
(Canada), Saman Wagaarachchi ( USA), Sunanda Deshapriya ( Switzerland)
http://nfrsrilanka.blogspot.com/
Face book: NFR Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka Government using 'Hidden Agenda Theory' to suppress legitimated demands of the University Community

 In Sri Lanka the universities have remained closed since August 21, this year and university staff has been on strike since July. The point of contention is a demand for a 20% pay hike, improved facilities and more government spending (6% of the GDP) on education.

Read more.

Is Sri Lanka Preparing For UNHRC’s Head Navi Pillay – OpEd

By: Eurasia Review-By Shenali Waduge-

September 7, 2012

To most of us the announcement of UNHRC’s Technical Team visit comes as a surprise but nothing that should cause frenzy other than the fact that most UN visits are generally not without bias and not without agenda. There is every possibility that the conclusive report is already drafted. Therefore, Sri Lanka’s Government is in for a rude shock if it is under the illusion that Pillay and her team arrive on 14th September to make amends, share a good cup of Ceylon tea and to congratulate Sri Lanka on eliminating terrorism! Every nook and corner that they will be digging for dirt and every area that they would manipulate must be thought out as their cohorts would have been given prior notice what to do. It is nothing UN can take offense against – UN lies on Iraq’s WMD is just one example.

Sri Lanka

The UNHRC head visited Zimbabwe on 20th May 2012 on a first ever visit though she was extended the invitation in 2009 by the coalition government despite the fact that UNHRC nominated Manfred Nowak the Chief UN Special Rapporteur was debarred from entering Zimbabwe citing he had no clearance. The 5 day visit of Ms. Pillai covered meetings with President Mugabe, Tsvangirai, Government ministers, chief justice, speaker of Parliament, President of the Senate, Zimbabwean Human Rights Commission and members of civil society.

If Pillai is to meet similar counterparts in Sri Lanka it is also advisable that she meet up with distinguished and respected luminaries like Mr. Gomin Dayasri, Mr. S L Gunasekera, Dr. Gunadasa Amarasekera to get the other side of the version that organizations with personalities like Saravanamuthu, Jehans are likely to be paid to say.

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Duty of Losers To Feel High About Mau-Bima

By Basil Fernando -September 7, 2012

Basil Fernando

“What is this talk about the stock market?” I asked a friend, who is lawyer and also a businessman. “It is all through fraud,” he said, adding, “I also lost ninety lakhs.” When I asked a person holding very a high post in government the same question, he said, “Oh, I have given up long time ago. Don’t you know our fellows!” he laughed.

The casual way of talking about fraud even when they themselves have been the losers is by now quite Sri Lankan-like. Everyone has gotten used to expecting fraud everywhere. There is no high expectation about anything and, as a result, there is hardly any sense of disappointment on hearing the worst. Commenting on a news story appearing in the papers yesterday about a young man killing two young children, a journalist said, “This is what we see whenever we open a newspaper every day.” Even news of grievous crimes brings up no anger, not even a surprise.

However, the President wants the people to be proud of their country! Love of Mau-Bima is his favorite theme.

Stock market fraud and reports of grievous crimes he does not see as problems of Mau-Bima. You may feel low about everything around you. But you must feel high about Mau-Bima. Even if everything has turned ugly and sour, you are expected to have a sweet feeling about Mau-Bima

Perhaps the only people feeling high are those who benefit from massive fraud. They must be sharing the high feelings for Mau-Bima with the President.

In Hong Kong, young students are protesting against a curriculum change, which they fear is designed for brainwashing, where teachers would be expected to test how high students feel about their Chineseness.

Perhaps these young students understand that such ways of feeling high will only turn them into idiots.

Him, Here, After

 

Director Biography

• 
  • Asoka Handagama
  • Asoka Handagama was born in Sri Lanka. He has directed films such as Flying with One Wing(02), Aksharaya (05), Vidhu (10) and Him, Here, After (12).

Returning to his community after defeat in the Sri Lankan civil war, a former Tamil rebel known only as "Him" faces hostility, suspicion and bitter recriminations in Asoka Handagama's beautifully elegiac meditation on the aftermath of war.

PROGRAMMER'S NOTE

After twenty-six devastating years of civil war, Sri Lanka is only now beginning to come to terms with the deep scars left by decades of conflict. At the close of the war, the victorious ruling government instituted rehabilitation camps for the defeated Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam fighters. Returning rebels received mixed receptions from their former communities, which were equally resentful of the costs of resistance and disheartened by defeat.

Sinhalese writer-director Asoka Handagama sets this Tamil tale in the time "after": after the war, after the trauma, after the return. For Handagama's unnamed protagonist, "Him," returning to his former life in the city of Jaffna proves impossible. Greeted by his neighbours with suspicion, hostility and accusations, he struggles to find a job and to reconnect with the lover he left behind, who in his absence married another man to save herself from conscription by the rebels. In a bitter irony, he now faces extortion when trying to get a new driver's license, mirroring the "war taxes" extorted from villagers by the rebels during the long conflict. When he finally secures a job as a security guard — befitting his imposing stature — his luck comes at the cost of another man's livelihood, and plunges him into a dark world of smuggling and corruption.

Without names, without pasts, Handagama's characters serve as reflections of the dehumanizing trauma of war. Haunted by the past, pursued by ghosts and shadows through the streets of Jaffna, "Him" is emblematic of the crises facing the returning soldier: the difficulty of reintegration, the lack of economic opportunities, the hostility of the community. Juxtaposing serene landscapes with strangely beautiful renderings of urban decay, Handagama's elegiac allegory neither wallows in grief nor mourns for a lost past, but rather explores the unsettling realities of postwar Jaffna. And yet, there is hope within this desperate, lyrical portrait — hope of an "after" for those who have lived through the traumas of war.

Cameron Bailey

There will be an extended Q&A with Michael Ignatieff, Senior Fellow at the Munk School of Global Affairs, following the screening on Monday, September 10 at 3:15pm.

Michael Ignatieff, Senior Fellow at the Munk School of Global Affairs, is an internationally renowned writer, journalist, former politician, and expert on foreign affairs.

Basil abandons the East and travels overseas

Friday, 07 September 2012

 Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa has traveled overseas abandoning the Eastern provincial Council election campaign stating that MP Namal Rajapaksa was interfering in it.

Basil Rajapaksa has gone to the US and is scheduled to return to the country once the election results are announced. Basil led the Eastern Re-awakening (Negenahira Navodaya) programme and was the government leader to the Eastern Province. He was also the political coordinator with other political parties in the province.

However, Basil’s advisors believe that the attempts made by Basil to get the SLMC to contest the Eastern elections with the government failed due to the wrong advice given to the President by his advisors.

The Minister has told his coordinators during a meeting before his departure from the country that SLMC’s decision to contest separately would have an impact on the governing party’s attempt to win the Eastern Province.

Nevertheless, he has instructed his close confidante in coordinating affairs in the East, Deputy Minister Susantha Punchinilame and Timber Corporation Chairman, Siripala Amerasinghe to carry out the work in the East as planned in his absence.

Tamils in Malaysia also articulate the Eelam cause and vow to strive for it

By Paul Newman   08 Sep 2012

Posted 07-Sep-2012 Vol 3 Issue 36 M Kulasegaran is an ethnic Tamil politician of Malaysia and is the National Vice Chairman of the Democratic Action Party. A practicing lawyer running his own law firm, Kula and Associated in Ipoh City, he is the face of the new generation politicians of the Opposition who are determined to end the rule of the BarisanNasional coalition (formerly Alliance party) which has ruled Malaysia since its independence in 1957. Educated in England, he is married to Jeya, and the couple has two children. Rising from a humble background - his parents were rubber tappers - Kulasegaran is a three time Member of Parliament, presently representing Ipoh Barat Parliamentary constituency. Kulasegaran wants to work for the betterment of all ethnic races in Malaysia In an interview to The Weekend Leader, he tells Paul Newman that his dream is to create a just and fair economic and political system in Malaysia, while expressing concern about the plight of Tamils in Sri Lanka and pledging his support for their liberation struggle. Excerpts from the interview:   As a Tamil can you narrate the difficulties you had faced while climbing the political ladder? Read More

Protect Our Children; Drop The “Stranger Danger” Signal

By Mathu H. Liyanage -September 7, 2012 

Dr. Mathu H. Liyanage

It has been the practice of parents in the past to warn children to be careful of strangers and to avoid or run away from them as far as possible. Unfortunately, in a fast changing world, things have changed so swiftly and traumatically for the worse where sexual abuse, violence and crime against children are concerned.

The moral standards of the society in which kids are born and brought up have eroded to such an extent that most of the child abusers and predators now come mostly from fairly educated class of persons with a standing and authority in the areas in which children live. The predators have invariably mastered the skills and techniques in befriending kids through the media, TVs, computers and internet by which they have easy access to similar occurrences in other countries. They snap up clues and methods of enticing children to meet their uncontrolled sexual urges and demands.

It is high time that parents did away with the “stranger danger” message as it makes no sense in the present environment though every stranger to children such as the police or responsible members of the community may not represent danger. Parents should explain to their children the dangers of meeting or speaking to an unknown person as, older children especially teenagers, are vulnerable to sex predators.

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S M Krishna misses debate on Sri Lanka, apologizes

THE TIMES OF INDIA New Delhi: External affairs minister S M Krishna apologized in Rajya Sabha on Thursday for being absent from the House when a 'calling attention motion' on the "situation arising out of repeated attacks on Tamil Nadu fishermen bySri Lanka navy" came up at noon. The minister was held up in a meeting with the Fijian prime minister and according to sources, reached the House when protests over Coalgate resulted in an adjournment. He soon after spoke to AIADMK MP V Maitreyan who had protested the minister's absence and said he was keen to make a statement on the matter. Maitreyan, in the meanwhile, submitted a breach of privilege notice that he decided not to pursue once Krishna apologized for not being in the House due to an official engagement. At noon, Maitreyan forcefully raised Krishna's absence, expressing his displeasure to the minister not being present. His objection, however, could not be heard in the din as members from Samajwadi Party andBJP continued with their protests over reservation in promotion for SCs/STs and coal block allocations respectively. Later, deputy chairman P J Kurien adjourned the House till 2 pm. Krishna turned up when the House resumed at 2 pm and apologized for his absence and this was stated by the chair. Sources close to the external affairs minister, however, said Krishna had informed the chair in advance about his absence and also about his intention to reply to the calling attention motion only at 2 pm. Replying to the motion on alleged attacks against Indian fishermen by Lankan navy, Krishna said there were no Indian fishermen in Sri Lankan custody on fishing-related charges. However, he added that some Indian nationals were arrested in Sri Lankan waters on charges of smuggling narcotics and contraband. "As soon as reports of apprehension of Indian fishermen are received, the government through diplomatic channels takes up the matter of their expeditious release and repatriation with Sri Lankan authorities," he said. "As a result, fishermen apprehended by the Sri Lankan navy have been released and repatriated expeditiously," he added. He said officials from the Indian high commission in Colombo and consulate in Jaffna were in regular touch with detained Indian nationals and were extending all possible consular and legal assistance to them.

Disciplinary inquiry against Wimal’s NFF after elections

Friday, 07 September 2012

 UPFA General Secretary, Minister Susil Premajayantha has said that a disciplinary inquiry has to be held against Minister Wimal Weerawansa’s National Freedom Front (NFF) after the provincial council elections conclude.

Premajayantha has told several ministers that the President has instructed him to inquire into severe statements made by former parliamentarian and leader of NFF’s team at the Eastern provincial Council election, Jayantha Wijesekera. The NFF although a constituent partner of the government is contesting the Eastern provincial Council separately.

Wijesekera has told several public meetings in the Trincomalee District that a vote for the UPFA’s betel leaf would make one of the bombers of the Dalada Maligawa, Pillayan become the Chief Minister of the East. Therefore, he has said a vote for the betel leaf would be a vote to resurrect the LTTE.

Also, Minister Weerawansa on the 4^th summoned and urgent press conference and said that Wijesekera has received death threats from several UPFA leaders. He noted that some UPFA leaders were affected by their impending defeat.

‘Fonseka-Backer Tiran To Be Appointed Minister Of Civil Aviation And Airport Services?’

By Colombo Telegraph -

Speculation is rife that Democratic National Alliance (DNA) National List MP Tiran Alles has resignedfrom his position as General Secretary of the Democratic National Party headed by former Army Chief Sarath Fonseka.

Amid conflicting reports, Colombo Telegraph reliably learns that Alles who was the chief negotiator of Fonseka’s release from prison with the Rajapaksa government, has readied his letter of resignation but may not have handed it in so far

.DNA General Secretary Vijitha Herath has denied knowledge of Alles’ resignation and Fonseka himself has reportedly told confidants that he has not received a letter of resignation so far.

Alles’ fallout with the former General has been some months in the making insiders say, but matters maybe have reached a climax after Sarath Fonseka in an interview with the Sinhala language Randiwa newspaper declared “Tiran cannot manipulate me” and went on to say that he would not take a bullet to serve Alles’ agendas. The newspaper reported Fonseka going as far as to say that “there was no friendship between Alles and himself”.

Colombo Telegraph has made repeated attempts to contact Alles for clarification on the issue, even via text message, but the Parliamentarian has remained unreachable so far. He is yet to contradict reports of his resignation officially to any media organizations, almost all of whom have now published the news story.

Sources close to the government indicate that Alles is poised to join the Rajapaksa administration and say he may even be granted the ministerial portfolio of Civil Aviation and Airport Services in time to come.

Tiran Alles first attained fame in the Presidential election of 2005 for his role in the infamous enforced LTTE boycott of the poll, allegedly at the behest of the Rajapaksa campaign. According to leaked US diplomatic cables, in February 2007, US Ambassador Robert O. Blake wrote to his Secretary of State saying that “all signs point to Tiran Alles, Chairman of the Sri Lanka Aviation Authority, often rumoured to be the GSL’s behind-the-scenes link to the LTTE.”

The cable went on to say: “Local papers say the security forces will soon arrest this individual on charges of conspiracy and links to the LTTE. The President announced at a ruling party meeting over the weekend that there is an LTTE conspiracy to assassinate him. An Embassy journalist contact told a PAO FSN that Tiran Alles is at the centre of a web involving Sinhalese support to the LTTE.”

Ambassador Blake notes in his cable that it was unlikely that the government of Sri Lanka can successfully prosecute Alles since the collateral damage to other members of the ruling administration would be ‘enormous’. “Already, the heavy-handed efforts to neutralize Alles, former Foreign Minister Samaraweera and his understudy, Sooriyarachchi, have come at a high political cost and undermined the stability of the government. Alles’ release on bail may be a sign that the parties are again trying to settle their differences. If the new attempt is successful, the story will likely disappear,” the US Ambassador noted at the time.

Following the defection of SLFP strongman Mangala Samaraweera, Alles joined opposition ranks and strongly backed the candidature of Sarath Fonseka, the common opposition candidate in the January 2010 election. Following the parliamentary election of April 2010, Alles was appointed a national list MP of the alliance that fielded Fonseka at the presidential and parliamentary election. Since mid-2011, Alles has been engaged in a one-man mission to obtain a presidential pardon for Fonseka negotiating his release directly with President Rajapaksa.

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