Mass graves surface along bunkers in Mu'l'livaaykkaal
[TamilNet, Monday, 01 October 2012, 22:21 GMT]
An official who recently visited the outskirts of Mu'l'livaaykkaal with the soldiers of the Sri Lanka Army told TamilNet this week that he had personally witnessed skeletal remains of hundreds of slain people surfacing along the few kilometers long, L-shaped bunker, running from Vadduvaakal to northwards along the land of the genocidal onslaught. A vast area is still not cleared and is strictly prohibited from access to anyone except SL military officials. “There are booby traps and UXOs. Rotten automatic rifles and RPG ammunitions are lying around in the area. When I walked across a bunker, I was able to sense that it was a bunker of mass slaughter. As the bodies buried underneath have rotten, the soil was going under as we walked across,” he said. Meanwhile, some other mass graves show the use of chemicals that have burnt even the bones to become ashes, journalists report. 

The kilometers-long bunker, which was the last Forward Defence Line position dug by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in May 2009, was one of the major locations where the genocidal SL military slaughtered thousands of severely wounded cadres and civilians in the final days of the onslaught. 

A large number of blindfolded youth, who were filtered away from the people as they crossed the Vadduvaakal Bridge, were taken here after stripping off their clothes and blindfolding them. It is believed that they were photographed here, before the massacre in cold-blood, the official said. 

The remains, found inside the bunkers, look as sand bags had been placed on them for cover up, the official said. 

Only 21 houses, along the main road, in Ve'l'laam-mu'l'livaaykkaal have been allowed for resettlement and these houses are situated along the road. Even here, one could still witness skeletal remains spread throughout the area, he said providing some of the photographs he had managed to take in the outskirts of the genocidal land. 

“Despite the SL military bulldozing and removing the traces, there are still hundreds of skeletal remains scattered all around the lands,” he said adding that the scale of mass slaughter was beyond imagination. 

“I knew it was horrible. But, I could sense the mass scale of the slaughter only when I walked through the mass graves,” he said.

Meanwhile, journalists who visited Aananthapuram, adjacent to Mu’l’livaaykkaal, report of seeing mass graves that show evidences for the use of chemicals in burning the dead bodies. Even bones have been burnt to the extent that they become ashes at touch. A kind of chemical sheet was used to cremate the bodies, say journalists who visited the site recently.

Photos managed to be taken inside and at the outskirts of the genocidal land show only a tip of the iceberg:
A skull surfacing from a mass grave. Mu'l'livaaykkaal bunker area.---Another skull surfaces. Mu'l'livaaykkaal bunker area.

An assault rifle and fragments of skull coming out at a scratch of 
the earth in a mass burial area. Mu'l'livaaykkaal bunker area.-A scattered skull at the mass burial ground. Mu'l'livaaykkaal bunker area.

SL military personnel manning a post collected bones in the vicinity.
 Mu'l'livaaykkaal bunker area.


Rotten pieces of rifles and shells. Mu'l'livaaykkaal bunker 
area.--A brought-down building at Aananthapuram under which mass cremations are found.

Mass cremations found under the building at Aananthapuram.

























‘The siblings’ [TamilNet cartoon]
 Full story >>

Menik Farm: The tragic end of a bitter saga, from detention to forced relocation

Groundviews 

by Ruki-2 Oct, 2012

“Why can’t the Army go to the jungles instead of taking our lands and sending us to jungles?”

“When will we be allowed to re-start cultivation of our lands?”

“When can we have access to the sea we were fishing before and will we get back the boats and fishing equipment we left behind in our village when we were displaced?”

“Why is there a check point at the entrance to this place?

“Why are there soldiers and intelligence officers all around us, why can’t we still have the freedom other people in this county have?”

“Why are visitors not allowed to come and freely talk to us and take photos?”

“Why have we been sent to another camp? What is different here from Menik Farm?”

“Why didn’t the authorities clean up the jungles before they sent us here?”

“When can we have a Kovil and Church?”

These were some of the questions that people who had fallen victim to the Sri Lankan Government’s latest resettlement program asked us when we visited them last Sunday 30^thSeptember 2012.

The bitter end to Manic Farm

Throughout August and September 2012, people from Puthukudiyiruppu and Maritimepattu Divisions in the Mullativu district, who had been living in Menik Farm were dumped in schools and roadsides to find their own way home[1]. “Home” was mainly shrub jungles, open air spaces under trees and destroyed houses with doors, windows, roofing, toilet equipment etc. looted. Some had to seek shelter in churches and schools, as their “home” was simply not habitable. Another group we met had been compelled to stay in a small church as the Army was occupying their land[2]. Clearly, the government which had waited for more than three years to send these people home, were now in a might hurry to send them home, without even clearing up jungles.

As news spread of imminent closure of Menik Farm at any cost, people in the Keppapilavu became apprehensive as they had heard that their lands were occupied by the Army and Air Force and they would not be allowed to go back to their own lands. On 20^th Sept., about 55 families (exact number was not clear) from Manic Farm were taken to Vattrappalai school and brought to a jungle area in Seeniyamottai on 21^st Sept. Amidst this uncertainty of going back home, several residents of Keppapilavu staged a protest in front of the Mullativu Government Agent’s office on 22^nd Sept. There were reports of intimidation and attacks on vehicles of some politicians who attended this event[3]. Several IDPs in Manic Farm had also told that they were prevented from going for the protest.  Those who did attend the protest sent out a public appeal asking to be allowed to go back home to their own lands[4].

On 22^nd Sept. 2012, at a meeting held in Menik Farm, military and government officials had informed the remaining people that all those from Keppapilavu Grama Niladari Division in the Maritimepattu Divisional Secretarial Division in the Mullativu district would be relocated on 24^thSept. On 24^th Sept., all these people were unceremoniously taken to Vattrappalai Maha Vidyalaya, and on 25^th, they were taken to a jungle area called Seeniyamottai, located in an interior area along the Vattrappalai – Puthukudiyiruppu road, in the Maritimepattu Division in the Mullativu district.

According to information provided by a Government Official, 346 people from 110 families in Keppapilavu have been dumped in Seeniyamottai camp. This information has been confirmed by the UN Country Team in Sri Lanka[5]. However, according to the people we met, the number seems around 160 families, though this could not be confirmed by the people or any official.

Re-displacement instead of resettlement                                                   Continue reading »

Blackmailing The Judiciary; Independence Of The Judiciary Is Under Threat

October 2, 2012

By Laksiri Fernando -Read More

Dr Laksiri Fernando

“They see governments come like water and go with the wind. They owe no loyalty to ministers, not even the temporary loyalty which civil servants owe…” – Jag Griffith

The judiciary in Sri Lanka is under threat. There cannot be any doubt about it. The extent and gravity might be the dispute, if any. First it was a Minister threatening the Mannar Magistrate. Now it is the President insinuating threats to the Supreme Court. This should be a concern of all right minded Sri Lankans, including the so-called ‘patriots’ and those who live abroad, and also the ‘international civil society,’ if anyone is allergic to the so-called ‘international community.’

Sri Lankans should be concerned about the issue because the muzzling of the judiciary is the death knell for the remaining democracy. How many have so far received redress for violations or imminent violations of their fundamental rights from the Supreme Court? The mere existence of an independent judiciary is a deterrent against violations. One of the most significant recent cases is the Z-score fiasco. If not for the independent judiciary, the verdict would have been in favour of the pathetic politicians and bureaucrats manning the ministries of higher education and education who are completely unconcerned about the fate of the innocent children.

Another example is the Divinaguma decision which undoubtedly angered the President and/or his brother about the judiciary’s independent resolve. If not for this decision, the government was planning to stream role its legislation quite detrimental to the spirit of devolution and in violation of the 13^th Amendment, and that means the Constitution of the country.

Still the intent is the same, although the procedure is followed until it reaches the approval of the ‘non-existing’ provincial council in the North. It is a controversial matter whether it is constitutional for the Governor alone to approve it, instead of the elected provincial council, and particularly in the context that the election is arbitrarily withheld for political reasons. This is obvious to the whole world. This is one immediate reason why the government requires a ‘coerced judiciary’ for its arbitrary, if not evolving tyrannical governance.

The international civil society, to mean the international legal profession (including the International Bar Association and the International Commission of Jurists) and democratic and human rights constituencies at large should be concerned about the situation as a matter of principle. If the judiciary in Sri Lanka is muzzled and if democracy is further turned back in the country then there will be repercussions on other countries and internationally.

Even the regime might ‘showcase and sell’ the ‘model of the muzzled judiciary’ to other countries like they did or try to do in the case of the ‘victory over terrorism’ no matter how many innocent civilians were killed, deliberately or otherwise, in the process without any accountability. The regime’s external affairs are so reactionary headed by a corrupt legal ‘luminary.’ He is the author of the so-called “good measures for the judiciary” to prescribe how the judiciary should behave and deliver decisions with ‘patriotism’ in a ‘patriarchal democracy’ in Sri Lanka.

Threats    

Let me preface the events or the controversy with some quotes from Jag Griffith (The Politics of the Judiciary,1985) more appropriately. In a democracy, ‘the judiciary or the judges are not beholden to the government of the day.’ This is something many people cannot understand or they are prevented from understanding.

The ‘governments come like water and go with the wind.’ The judges owe no loyalty to ministers; not even the temporary loyalty which civil servants owe. Judges are lions under the ‘democratic republic’ and in the eyes of the judges ‘the republic is not the President or the Ministers, but the law and their conception of public interest.’ ‘It is to that law and to that conception alone that they owe allegiance. In that lie their strength and their weakness.’

I will not refer to the Mannar controversy but to the most recent events.

President’s Secretary called the Chief Justice (CJ) and summoned her and other two members of the Judicial Services Commission (JSC) for a meeting. The ‘summoning’ in itself was an insinuated threat. The CJ rightly asked for the request to be sent in writing. The letter was sent on 13 September yet without giving any particular reason. The meeting could have been on anything. The CJ declined the request in writing highlighting the ‘implications of that kind of a meeting on the independence of the judiciary.’ The President obviously does not have a constitutional mandate to summon the Judicial Services Commission (JSC) or the Chief Justice whatever the reason.

In the principle of separation of powers, there can be and should be coordination between the executive and the legislative branches and/or functions. But there is no need of coordination between the judiciary and the executive or the judiciary and legislature. Any attempt at coordination is against the principle of independence. There is no such a principle of independence between the executive and the legislature. Instead the executive should be responsible to the legislature. It is this principle which has considerably eroded under the presidential system since 1978 and in fact encroaching on the matters of the judiciary throughout years.

There is another fundamental structural reason for the erosion of the independence of the judiciary, and the rule of law that it is supposed to uphold. That is the removal of the post-enactment judicial review from the Constitution since 1972, and the limited time given (only one week) including the urgency provision for an incumbent government to curtail the proper judicial review even in the case of the existing (limited) post-enactment judicial review. A major aberration that has occurred in my view is the draconian 18^th Amendment.

First, by declaring it as an ‘urgent bill,’ no proper opportunity was given to the citizens or the people in the country to submit their constitutional objections; or the Supreme Court to review them properly. This was in addition to the curtailment of a proper public debate on the issue. The passage of the 18^th Amendment revealed a clear dictatorial turn of the Rajapaksa regime.

Second, there are certain legal texts, such as the 18^th Amendment, the constitutional inconsistencies or implications of which cannot hardly be evident form the text alone. Those could be judged only through the passage of time and the way those enactments are actually implemented in constituency with or contrary to the constitutions and public interest.

The present encroachment or attempted encroachment on the judiciary is exactly a result of the 18^thAmendment, in violation of both the letter and spirit of the ‘democratic (socialist) republican constitution.’

Proof of Threats  

On 18 September, the Secretary to the Judicial Services Commission (JSC) was compelled to issue a public statement on the advice of the Chief Justice and the Commission, declaring very clearly the threats to the independence of the judiciary. Some of the important matters are quoted below from that statement translated by the Sunday Times (23 September 2012) with emphasis added.

“It is regrettable to note that the JSC has been subjected to threats and intimidation from persons holding different status. Various influences have been made on the JSC regardingdecisions taken by the Commission keeping with the service requirements. Recently the JSC was subjected to various influences after the Commission initiated disciplinary action against a judge.”

“Moreover an attempt to convince the relevant institutions regarding the protection of the independence of the judiciary and the JSC over the attempt to call for a meeting with the chairperson of the JSC, who is the Hon Chief Justice and two other Supreme Court judges, was not successful. The JSC has documentary evidence on this matter.”

“It is the JSC that is the superior institution which is empowered with the appointment of Magistrates, District judges, their transfers, dismissal from service and disciplinary action against them. It is an independent institution established under the Constitution. Under the Constitutionany direct or indirect attempt by any person or through any person to influence or attempt to influence any decision taken by the Commission is an offence which could be tried in a High Court.”

“‘It should be emphasized that the JSC is dedicated and it is its responsibility to protect the independence of the judiciary and discharge its service without being intimidated by influences, threats or criticism. I have been instructed by the Commission to issue this media release to keep the majority of the public who value justice informed about an attempt by conspirators to destroy the credibility of the JSC and the Judiciary. — Manjuala Tilakaratne, Secretary, JSC.”

                                                                                                              Read More

Legal action against the Chief Justice’s husband

Tuesday, 02 October 2012

Legal action is to be initiated against the Chief Justice’s husband, former Chairman of the National Savings Bank (NSB), Pradeep Kariyawasam as soon as possible, reliable sources said. The action is to be taken as part of the campaign against the Chief Justice that has been initiated by the President.

Legal action is to be taken against several transactions carried out by Kariyawasam during his tenure as the NSB Chairman. The source who gave us the information said that once legal action is initiated against Kariyawasam, the state media is to commence a campaign questioning the moral right of the Chief Justice to continue to hold her post.

The initial plan was to take action against Kariyawasam over the controversial purchase of The Finance shares by the NSB, which led to Kariyawasam’s resignation. However, it had been learnt that Kariyawasam alone could not be implicates in the deal since the decision to purchase the shares were made as a collective decision. A special is team is therefore carrying out an investigation to find the issues that could be taken up against Kariyawasam.

The special investigations team is concerned over the silence maintained by Kariyawasam. Most members of the team believe that taking legal action against Kariyawasam and dragging him to court could boomerang if and when he makes an open court statements about the issues.

PM writes to Karunanidhi on Sri Lankan Tamils: Full text

October 02, 2012

Chennai: Prime Minister has written to DMK chief M Karunanidhi over the issue of Sri Lankan Tamils.

In the letter, the Prime Minister has stated that the re-settlement and rehabilitation of Lankan Tamils remains the highest priority for India. And Sri Lanka has been told to engage Lankan Tamils on devolution of power. 

The letter also mentions that India supports a future of dignity, justice and self-respect for Lankan Tamils 

DMK is slated to approach the United News for rehabilitation and resettlement of Lankan Tamils.

Full text of the letter. 

Prime Minister Reply to Karunanidhi on Lankan Tamils

India to help create a platform for talks between Sri Lankan government and Tamil party


Oct 01, Colombo: The Indian government has said that it would help create a platform to restart stalled talks between the Sri Lankan government and the major Tamil party, Tamil National Alliance (TNA).
The Indian officials have expressed concern over the delay in the two sides arriving at a mutually agreeable position towards a political solution to the ethnic issue.

India hopes to get both sides to initiate meaningful talks through a Parliamentary Select Committee process. However, according to highly placed Indian sources India would not play the role of mediator.

Following a request made by President Mahinda Rajapaksa from Indian Premier Manmohan Singh during his visit to New Delhi last month to put pressure on the TNA to make the party participate in the reconciliation process, the Indian government extended an invitation to the TNA to visit New Delhi for a discussion.

A delegation of TNA representatives led by its leader R. Sampanthan is to travel to India on the 10th of this month following the invitation extended by New Delhi.

Meanwhile, TNA parliamentarian M.A. Sumanthiran said the agenda for discussions with the Indian government is likely to be received this week and the talks are likely to center around the political solution to the ethnic issue.

Once the agenda is received, the TNA's parliamentary group is to meet to discuss the party's stance and approach on the issues.

During the meeting with Indian Premier, Sri Lankan President has insisted on TNA participating in the parliamentary select committee to formulate a national solution since all parties should be involved to discuss critical issues that require changes in the constitution.

President Rajapaksa has earlier said that he will accept any decision of the parliament on the ethnic issue and a solution should not be confined to discussions with one party.

Indian media meanwhile reported that New Delhi will ask the TNA to somewhat relax their stance, while agreeing that there should be some input from the discussions the two sides held so far on the issue.

India had reportedly also pledged its support to Sri Lanka at the upcoming Universal Periodic Review (UPR) on human rights to take place in Geneva on November 1.

The Human Rights boot is on the other foot at the

 UN General Assembly

Sunday 30 September 2012

The 2012 General Assembly of the United Nations began on September 18 at the UN headquarters in New York. As outlined in the UN Charter, the function of the General Assembly is to discuss, debate, and make recommendations on a range of subjects pertaining to international peace and security.
With each of the 193 member states entitled to one vote, the General Assembly is the only part of the UN system that operates according to democratic principles. The main functions assigned to the General Assembly however, are ‘housekeeping’ – ones relating to the administration of the UN organs themselves: Approving the UN budget, and electing members to serve in UN bodies such as the Human Rights Council and as non-permanent members of the Security Council and other such agencies. The appointment of the secretary-general however, is based on the Security Council’s recommendation. 
The power to make real decisions affecting the lives of millions of citizens of the developing world, especially decisions to wage war on member countries by the more powerful countries, continues to lie with the non-democratically operating Security Council where the five permanent members, the US, UK, Russia, China and France can veto any initiative not to their liking. The US is the most frequent user of the veto.
In addition to making the General Assembly an ineffective body, the West also ‘uses’ it as a forum to put their agenda before the world community: Disarmament, the rule of law; prosecution of persons responsible for the genocides in Rwanda and Yugoslavia (NATO not included); and international drug control, all of which were featured prominently in this year’s agenda.
Also, US presidents use the General Assembly floor to lay down ‘their’ law as it applies to the rest of the world, and to read the riot act to ‘rogue’ nations as defined by them. Member countries that dare to plan for the peaceful use of nuclear energy and any other country with a strong nationalistic leader will be mentioned as ‘rogue nations’ who disobey US dictums. Countries that associate with them are also taken to task.
Barack Obama, in his address last week, for example, declared ‘unambiguously’ that he will not allow Iran to become a nuclear power: Clearly there is no legal or other basis to this threat, and it is against Article 1 and Article 2 of the UN Charter. Such threats are Crimes against Peace defined in Principle VI (a) under the Nuremberg Tribunal. But the US presidents are a law unto themselves, superficially, because the speech writers are under the control of vested interest groups.

A largely ineffective body                            Read more...

UN chief Ban Ki-moon seeks a political solution for Sri Lanka

Oct 2, 2012

United Nations: UN chief Ban Ki-moon has highlighted the need to find a political solution immediately to the underlying factors of the past conflict in Sri Lanka.

He sought a political solution “without further delay” during his meeting with Sri Lankan External Affairs Minister G L Peiris on the margins of the 67th UN General Assembly session, a UN statement said.

Reuters

The UN Secretary General and Peiris exchanged views on the post-conflict situation in Sri Lanka and cooperation with the United Nations.

“The Secretary-General noted the Government’s latest efforts to implement the recommendations of its Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) as well as the steady progress and remaining tasks on resettlement efforts in the North,” the statement said.

Ban-Peiris meeting came against the backdrop of a UN resolution against Sri Lanka at the Human Rights Council in March. The US-moved, India-backed resolution has urged expeditious implementation of the LLRC recommendations.

Sri Lanka has faced international criticism for going slow on the recommendations of their own committee.
It says that some of the recommendations are already being practised while it will take time for the accomplishment of the more far-reaching recommendations.

PTI

Sri Lanka’s Economy: Challenges And Way Forward

October 2, 2012 

By W.A. Wijewardena -

Dr. W.A. Wijewardena

Sri Lanka’s impressive performance since the end of the war

Since the end of the disastrous war conclusively three years ago, Sri Lanka was poised for a rapid take-off filling everyone with hopes of a bright future ahead. As a herald of these hopes, several macroeconomic indicators recorded impressive performance in the first two years of the new era. The overall real economic growth rate which amounted, on average, to less than 5 per cent per annum in the whole of the post-independence period shot up to 8 per cent in 2010 and 8.3 per cent in 2011. The unemployment rate which was above 10 per cent of the labour force in 1990s started to fall sharply, finally settling at low 4.2 per cent by mid 2011. Given the normal unemployment in an economy due to people leaving jobs in search of better jobs and people waiting for acquiring the necessary skills to get themselves employed, this rate of unemployment denoting employment at 96 per cent connotes more or less a state of full employment of the country’s work force. The poverty level as measured by the number of people below poverty as a percentage of total population fell from above 15 per cent a few years ago to below 9 per cent by end-2011. Inflation which had been eroding the real welfare of people at the rate of 23 per cent per annum in 2008 was tamed and contained at an annual average of 5 per cent in the subsequent three year period. The Sri Lanka rupee which was exchanged at the rate of closer to Rs 115 per US dollar in 2009 was strengthened to reach a level of Rs 110 per US dollar by mid 2011. Though Sri Lanka’s trade deficitexpanded phenomenally, its exports continued to rise at an unprecedented rate of over 20 per cent per annum in 2010 and 2011. The confidence which the investors had about the future health of the Sri Lanka’s economy was amply demonstrated by an unprecedented improvement in the indices of the Colombo Stock Exchange in 2010 making it one of the best performing markets in the world.

All these indicators of reported good performance contributed to raise the high hopes which everyone – politicians, policy makers and the general public – had about the Sri Lanka’s future. Encouraged by the super performance of the country’s economy in the first two years of ending the war, the country’s top policy makers set on a mission of projecting this high growth into indefinite future by having such goals as ‘doubling the per capita income of the people in US dollar terms, within 6 years and thereby making Sri Lanka a nation to be awed, respected and emulated by others in Asia. The development tagline, ‘Sri Lanka: The Emerging Wonder of Asia’, was coined in order to market this highly ambitious goal of the nation.

But 2012 started to see a reversal of all these achievements which Sri Lanka had made in the previous two years.

The gloomy outcome in 2012                                            Read More

Center for legal advice against corruption​s open at Batticaloa

[ Tuesday, 02 October 2012, 01:44.46 PM GMT +05:30 ]

Center for legal advice against corruptions “Shelter for Integrity” organization opened its new office at Batticaloa district today.

Additional Government Agent of the Batticaloa district Vimalanatha was the chief guest for this opening ceremony event. Executive director of the Transparency International SriLankan organization (Colombo)Ranage, legal advisors Dissanayake, Liyanarachchie, SriLankan Human Rights Council Batticaloa district director and several lawyers were also present at this event.