Unprecedented military budget in Sri Lanka

By Saman Gunadasa 
19 October 2012

The Sri Lankan government’s Appropriation Bill for budget expenditure for the year 2013 has allocated 290 billion rupees ($US2.2 billion) to the combined defence and urban development ministry.

This is a 26 percent increase from 2012 and represents the country’s highest-ever military expenditure, even greater than during the protracted communal war against the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) that ended in May 2009.

The continued increase in defence spending is to further strengthen the military and other repressive forces of the state amid growing opposition among workers, the rural poor and youth to the government’s austerity program.

These austerity measures will intensify because of an acute fiscal crisis produced by the worsening global economic breakdown. In total, the government expenditure for 2013 is projected at 2.5 trillion rupees, but the expected income is only 1.3 trillion rupees, leaving a huge budget deficit of 1.2 billion rupees.

The government said it would borrow 1.3 trillion rupees to cover the deficit. However, President Mahinda Rajapakse, who is also the finance minister, will present budget proposals to parliament on November 8 that will inevitably include tax hikes and cuts to public spending, including welfare.

Over the past four weeks, the government has already increased tariffs on potatoes, onions, construction materials, alcohol and cigarettes by 10 to 30 percent. These increases came on top of soaring prices due to the devaluation of rupee, which has fallen by 17 percent against the US dollar since February. The government has floated the exchange rate, as demanded by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

In a speech last week, Treasury Secretary P. B. Jayasundera said the budget was being formulated under “trying conditions”, with the “global economic slump expected to impact Sri Lanka’s external balance and revenue,” as well as a severe drought affecting tea and paddy production.

Jayasundera indicated that deeper attacks on the living standards of the working class are being prepared. He accused people of “not understanding the budget”, declaring: “They all gave the president a new shopping list for the Budget 2013. But, where do we find the money?”

By July, the overall budget deficit for this year had risen to 5.56 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) and could exceed 7 percent by the end of the year. Jayasundera said the government remained determined to meet the IMF’s fiscal deficit target of 6.2 percent, hinting at sharp spending cuts during the final three months of 2012. Within a few years, the deficit would be cut to 5 percent, he insisted.

As part of its cuts, the government will continue the wage freeze that has been unofficially imposed since 2006, despite the relentless rise in the prices of essentials. It is relying on the trade unions to keep enforcing the pay freeze.

After years of limiting spending on education and health—which represented just 1.8 percent and 2.1 percent of GDP, respectively, last year—the government is proposing small increases to these sectors but not enough to compensate for the already run-down conditions.

Education ministry expenditure will rise by 7.5 billion rupees and health ministry spending by 18 billion rupees—a stark contrast to the 60 billion-rupee increase for the defence and urban development ministry. Education spending will remain far below the 6 percent of GDP demanded by university teachers during their recent three-month-long strike.

In addition, the government will cut spending on public transport and economic development by 6 and 20 billion rupees, respectively. Allocations for the resettlement of war refugees have been slashed by nearly 50 million rupees.

Jayasundera said that because of the global economic downturn, Sri Lanka’s GDP growth forecast for 2012 had been lowered from 7 to 6.5 percent, a sharp drop from last year’s rate of 8.3 percent.

Exports are declining due to decreasing international demand and lower commodity prices in Sri Lanka’s main markets, the US and Europe. In July, garment exports, the country’s biggest revenue earner, dropped by more than 14 percent, while food and beverage exports fell by 32 percent. Tea exports fell by almost 12 percent and rubber exports by 14 percent.

As a result, the trade deficit will soar to a record $13 billion, up from $10 billion last year. Government is hoping to cover the gap via remittances from Sri Lankan workers overseas, estimated at $6.5 billion annually, and tourist revenue. But these predictions are questionable because the global slump will affect remittances and tourism.

Already, debt repayments constitute the government’s largest expenditure item, rising to 1.2 trillion rupees ($US9.3 billion) next year. This is not included in the Appropriation Bill, since debt repayments have been permanently authorised by other financial legislation.

The government is boasting that the country’s foreign reserves increased to $7 billion at the end of July. However, a considerable part of these reserves consisted of foreign borrowings, which rose by 34 percent by July, compared to last year.

Last week, the treasury announced discussions with IMF officials on borrowing a further $500 million under the IMF’s Extended Fund Facility, in order to “continue with economic development activities.” A Treasury official said: “If the IMF loan is not forthcoming, then we’ll proceed with a bond issue.”

The government’s $500 million loan request underscores its mounting economic problems. It only received the final instalment of a $2.6 billion IMF standby loan, obtained in July 2009, under strict conditions, including spending cuts and currency devaluation. Any new loan will require further austerity measures to be imposed on the working people.

Sri Lanka’s Emerging Fiscal Cliff: Are We To Fall Off The Cliff Or Fly Over It?

By W.A Wijewardena -October 19, 2012

Dr. W.A. Wijewardena

Dr Jayasundera: Large government is not a problem

Sri Lanka’s top most policy administrator, Dr P.B Jayasundera, Secretary to the Treasury and Secretary to the Ministry of Economic Development, has for the first time admitted in public the daunting challenges he faces when balancing the purse of the country’s government.

Addressing the 30th Annual General Meeting of the Sri Lanka Administrative Service Association in Colombo last Tuesday, he is reported to have said that he does not believe in the pitfalls of a large government which, according to him, has not been proven by empirical economic evidence, but only the pitfalls of a complex administrative system that prevents the bureaucracy from delivering what it should deliver to the people efficiently and effectively.
Two days after this, delivering the prestigious Sujatha Jayawardena Memorial Oration again in Colombo, Dr Jayasundera is reported to have said that the 2013 Budget is being prepared by the Government under trying conditions because there have been adverse local and global developments that stifle the nation’s high growth momentum and, despite that, many want the government to give them more and more concessions presuming that the government has access to an enormous pool of resources.

A Large Government should be paid for by the citizens

Ironically, these two views expressed by the veteran economist appear to be contradicting each other. A large government is a large government despite its adherence to simple procedures demanding the lion’s share of a nation’s resources and those resources used by the government are a loss to the rest of the nation. In economics, what is lost by one has to produce more in the hands of its gainer if it is to justify its transfer from the first party to the other. Hence, a large government that does not produce more cannot justify its existence to society. As this writer has argued in the previous articles under this series, the tendency of the bureaucracy is to multiply itself because of certain inherent weaknesses in the relationship between the bureaucracy and the citizens. In a democracy, citizens’ interests are to be looked after by elected representatives but when there is poor governance in the system, the citizens are hit by double jeopardy, in the first instance by elected representatives and then by bureaucrats who will collude to work for their own benefits ignoring those of their principals. However, at the end of the day, the bill on account of the enlarged government and the enlarged bureaucracy has to be paid for by the citizens.

Small government multiplies by itself                                        Read More

Sri Lankan minister must appear in person for murder trial: Chennai court

THE TIMES OF INDIAA Subramani, TNN | Oct 19, 2012,

CHENNAI: A Chennai sessions court on Thursday refused to revoke a non-bailable arrest warrant issued against Sri Lankan minister Douglas Devananda and turned down his offer to face the murder trial he faces in India through video-conferencing.

Devananda and nine others are accused of firing on local residents and killing one person at Choolaimedu in Chennai in November 1986. All the 10 were arrested and charged with murder. A chargesheet was filed before the IV additional sessions court in 1987. As all of them absconded after being released on bail, the court declared them as proclaimed offenders in August 1994.

The minister had approached the court seeking cancellation of the warrant and cited security threat to him and possible law and order problem in Tamil Nadu if he visited the state to attend the trial. Devananda sought the court's permission to face trial through video-conferencing at the Indian high commission in Sri Lanka.

Rejecting his request, IV additional sessions judge S Rajagopalan said his personal appearance before the court could not be dispensed with because of the police objection over his identification and the gravity of charges against him. "The petitioner has not complied with the order of the high court. Further, the respondent (police) clearly and categorically questioned the identification of the person accused. The NBW is pending for long time," the judge said in his order. "Under these circumstances, after applying my judicial mind, it is concluded that the presence of the petitioner is essential, in order to ascertain his identity."

Public prosecutor Prabhavathi assured that Devananda would get adequate police protection if he chose to attend the trial proceedings. But the minister's counsel said the Tamil Nadu police were not as good in providing security as in conducting investigation, as was evident from the assassination of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi.

Besides the security threat, the Lankan minister cited his high constitutional position in Sri Lanka for his inability to attend the trial proceedings.

A tale of two Tamils: High value assets in SL, criminals in India

by G Pramod Kumar Oct 19, 2012

This week saw the curious case of two influential Sri Lankan Tamils, wanted in India on sensational criminal cases but close to the island’s government, making news again.

One of them is “KP” or Kumaran Pathmanathan who once allegedly controlled LTTE’s transnational finance and arms procurement network, and the other is an anti-LTTE Tamil leader and minister Douglas Devananda who had survived many attempts on his life.

KP, the only survivor of the LTTE top-brass, captured under mysterious circumstances immediately after the war, was released from detention by the Sri Lankan government without pressing any criminal charges on Wednesday (17 October), while Douglas Devananda was asked by a sessions court in Chennai on Thursday to appear before itself for an 26-year old murder case.

Shanmugam Kumaran Tharmalingam (alias Selvarasa Pathmanathan, Kumaran Pathmanathan, or simply KP). Image courtesy Interpol

Of the two, KP is high-profile wanted man in India with anInterpol alert for “terrorism and crimes involving the use of weapons/explosives”. Devananda is a “proclaimed offender” for the last 18 years for a 1986 murder in Chennai. At some stage, if Indian law wants to catch up with them, the country will have to ask for their extradition.

Of the two, KP is the big fish. At the height of the LTTE rein, he was reportedly the kingpin of its international operations including procurement and shipping of its military hardware, managing flow of funds, setting up front companies and manufacturing vessels that the organisation used for its attacks and bombings. He was also involved in the last minute attempts to save the top leadership of LTTE, including Veluppillai Prabhakaran, during the final phase of the war.

With several aliases, he was mostly untraceable and unseen in public while he operated from South East Asia. In 2009, after the fall of LTTE, the Sri Lankan government, through some thrilling undercover operations—the details of which are still undisclosed—nabbed him in Malaysia. Since then, he was under detention till he was freed on Wednesday.

In an exclusive video interview carried by Firstpost in May 2011 while he was still in detention, KP had said hat he had shunned his LTTE past. He said along with others he had fought for independence but failed. He also apologised to India for the mistakes of LTTE leader Prabhakaran.

In the interview, KP sought to play down the alleged war excesses by the Sri Lankan army and said the past was past and it was time to move on. He also said that he would not allow the revival of Tamil extremism and would work for peace and development among the Tamils.

Now that KP is free without any criminal charges against him and allowed to run an NGO in the north of the country, will India and the Interpol ask for him?

Although he is not an accused or a proclaimed offender in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case as some media reports have erroneously said, his leadership role in LTTE could be a matter of sensitivity to the supporters of former Indian prime minister. It will be interesting to see how it pans out in the coming days and months since he is now close to the Sri Lankan establishment.

In the case of Devananda, the sessions court in Chennai said his presence in court was necessary. The Sri Lankan minister wanted the court to quash the non-bailable arrest warrant against him and allow him to appear before the court through video-conferencing from Colombo.

He had argued against his appearance in Chennai court citing security threats. He had said that the Tamil Nadu police would not be able to ensure his safety. The government prosecutor said his presence was necessary for proper identification.

In Sri Lanka, there is considerable political criticism of the way KP has been set free with both Tamil groups and the UNP alleging that he has cut a deal with the government. Is that deal binding on India as well?

It will be interesting to see how New Delhi handles these two high-value strategic assets of Sri Lanka who face criminal charges in India. Most probably, it will close its eyes for the same geo-political compulsions that always limit its options on the island nation.

CJ’s Husband’s Appointment To State Bank Grounds For Perceived Judicial Bias – New Public Interest Litigation Petition Says

By Dharisha Bastians -October 19, 2012 

As the tensions between the Government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa and the judiciary headed by Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake continue to grow, Public Interest Litigator Nihal Sri Ameresekere on Thursday made an application to the Supreme Court to re-view and re-examine its own determination on the Government’s expropriation act, passed into law in November 2011. The Sri Lankan Constitution does not provide for judicial review of legislation, but the petitioner says the Supreme Court has the power to alter its own rulings if it is found to be ‘demonstrably wrong’.

Chief Justice Dr. Shirani Bandaranayake and Pradeep Kariyawasam

The controversial case seeks to have the Supreme Court review its own determination on a law allowing the state to acquire private enterprises and property and declare it null and void because it contravenes the constitution and because judicial bias and disqualification was perceived in the SC ruling on the bill. The explosive instances of perceived judicial bias as highlighted in Ameresekera’s application are likely to ruffle feathers both on Hulftsdorp Hill and Temple Trees.

The Underperforming and Underutilized Assets Act, commonly referred to as the expropriation act since it vests power in the state to acquire private enterprises and assets it deems loss-making, was submitted for Supreme Court determination as an Urgent Bill on 20 October 2011.

In his petition to the court, Ameresekere argues that the Supreme Court determination is constitutionally null and void and without force in law, because it is made in contravention of Article 123 (3) of the Constitution, pertaining to urgent bills. According to the petitioner, the Article 123(3) is an inbuilt safeguard and check against the hasty procedures adopted to enact Urgent Bills. The Article cited states: “If the Supreme Court entertains a doubt it shall be deemed to have been determined that the Bill or such provision of the Bill is inconsistent with the Constitution.” The petitioner illustrates several instances in the SC special determination issued on 24 October 2011, where doubt is entertained by the three judge bench providing the ruling, namely Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake, Justice Chandra Ekanayake and Justice P.A. Rathnayake.

Ameresekere’s application states that upon the entertainment of a doubt by the Supreme Court, Article 123(3) of the Constitution deems the ‘Urgent Bill’ or any provision thereof to have been determined to be inconsistent with the Constitution, and thereby debars the Supreme Court from determining otherwise, and if so made, “such Determination, as in this instance, is constitutionally ab-initio null and void and of no force or avail in law i.e. a nullity.”

Citing the five Judge bench ruling on the Jeyaraj Fernandopulle Vs. Premachandra De Silva and Others case in Supreme Court, Ameresekere argues that the Supreme Court has inherent powers to correct decisions made per incuriam or ‘through lack of care’. “A decision will be regarded as given per incuriam if it was in ignorance of some inconsistent statute or binding decision… an order made on wrong facts given to the prejudice of a party will be set aside by way of remedying the injustice caused,” the ruling cited in the application states.

The most explosive section of the Application by Ameresekere is the section regarding perceived judicial bias, in which the petitioner illustrates several circumstances that created the perception of bias on the part of the judiciary. Each of the three judges who provided the ruling on the expropriation bill have been dealt with separately.

With reference to the appointment of the Chief Justice’s husband as the chairman of a state bank, despite his having no expertise in the field, Ameresekere details the sequence of events relating to former NSB Chairman’s resignation following a controversial share transaction and finally the statement from JSC Secretary Manjula Tillekaratne alleging interference with the independence of the judiciary on September 18, 2012. Referring to several of these ‘conflicts of interest’ the petitioner states: “Circumstances and relationships could or may have subsequently changed, but what is of relevance are the circumstances and relationships which subsisted prior to and at the relevant time the impugned Special Determination of 24.10.2011 (on the expropriation bill) was made.” The petitioner also refers to the appointment of Justice Chandra Ekanayake’s husband, a former High Court judge as parliamentary ombudsman by President Mahinda Rajapaksa after opting for early retirement after questions arose about his rulings in a high profile drug case.  Ameresekere also states in the section regarding perceived judicial bias that President Rajapaksa himself was “keenly interested in the urgent bill” in question as per a speech given by the Head of State in parliament.

The following is the section regarding perceived judicial bias and disqualification cited in Ameresekere’s petition to the Supreme Court.

Perceived Judicial Bias and Disqualification’

Govt. needs to shift economic policy, says citizen group

 Too much attention on infrastructure development, urbanisation, tourism
* Much more can be done for rural economy, poor

October 18, 2012, 9:06 pm 

A network of citizen groups has sent in its proposals for the 2013 budget to the President, asking the government to give more weight to developing a macroeconomic and political strategy which would uplift the rural economy, marginalised communities and urban poor, instead of pursuing a course favouring infrastructure development, urbanisation, tourism and financialisation.

Organised in to the Active Citizenship for Development Network (ACDN) their recommendations cover four sectors of particular concern to their larger communities; agriculture, fisheries, estates, and state education.

"Over the past year there have been mobilizations of farmers, fisher-people, plantation workers; and university students and academics around issues of concern to them. These actions and protests should be viewed as a form of engagement with the state in defence of their interests – particularly in a context where the opportunities for peoples’ participation in budget-making at local, provincial and national-level are so limited," the ACDN said in a statement.

"Will the 2013 Budget respond to these engagements by shifting from the neoliberal economic trajectory favouring infrastructure development, urbanisation, tourism and financialisation; towards a macro-economic and political strategy that supports the rural economy, and marginalised communities including the urban poor?"

The problems faced by these groups range from the impact of drought on crops and low farm-gate prices for their produce; to the high cost of diesel and kerosene, sea-grabbing for tourism projects and poaching by Indian trawlers; to the poor housing, education and social infrastructure on estates and their landlessness; and finally, the woeful underinvestment in state education from pre-school through to tertiary-level.

ACDN member organisations – that is, the Centre for Society and Religion (CSR), the Law & Society Trust (LST), the National Fisheries Solidarity Movement (NAFSO), and the Uva Community Development Centre (UCDC) – have taken up these issues in the formulation of the following proposals:

Agriculture:

= Organic fertilisers to be promoted through transferring at least Rs10 billion in subsidies on chemical fertilisers, and accompanied by necessary extension facilities for ecological farming from relevant ministries.

= Social security for farmers and their families through resourcing the Farmers Pension and Benefits Scheme.

Fisheries:

= Diesel subsidy of at least 25 percent and Kerosene subsidy of at least 30% for fisher-folk to offset cost-of-living increases.

= 25 percent increase in stocking fingerlings to sustain and promote freshwater fishing.

Estates:

= 7 perches of land to be allocated to each estate household as promised prior to privatisation of plantations; and the 37,000 hectares of unutilised estate lands to be distributed to estate residents for own cultivation.

= Pradeshiya Sabhas should be legally obliged to provide their development and welfare services to estate residents through amendment of Act, No 15 of 1987.

Education:

= Increase availability of advanced-level education in at least 238 more rural and estate schools, through an immediate 10 percent increase in allocation, within the medium-term framework of allocating 6 percent of GDP for education.

= Provide substantial and specific allocation for investment in estate sector schools that previous Budgets have ignored.

"These modest and reasonable proposals can be resourced if there is political will to downsize the defence sector that is projected to increase by 26 percent in 2013; curb external loans and therefore rising debt-service payments that amount to US$1billion; and strengthen, instead of undermining, provincial and local government including through revenue-raising; exercise of powers over land-use and law and order; and building on the 13th Amendment," the ACDN said.

ReliefWebSri Lanka 

Three Years of Peace But No Sign of Prosperity

By Amantha Perera

VAVUNIYA, Sri Lanka, Oct 18 2012 (IPS) - Mamaduwa, a remote village in Sri Lanka’s northern Vavuniya district where scorching winds blow across parched earth, is trying to forget the past.

Comprised of 130 families, Mamaduwa lies on the southern border of Sri Lanka’s former war zone, popularly known as the Vanni. The village is almost entirely Sinhalese, the island’s majority ethnicity.

When ethnic tensions gave way to full-blown civil war in 1983, this small village found itself caught in the crossfire of a separatist conflict between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) – who were demanding an independent state for the minority Tamil community – and the Sinhala-Buddhist government of Sri Lanka.

In 1985, a woman and her child were killed by suspected LTTE gunfire close to the Mamaduwa reservoir, igniting a mass exodus that emptied the village in a matter of years.

Since the guns fell silent in May 2009, villagers have been trickling back in, but three years into peacetime they are yet to see an improvement in their lives.

“We are happy to be back in our own village, but there is nothing else to be happy about,” 25-year-old Sagara Sampath, who spent two decades as an internally displaced person (IDP), told IPS.

Sampath, at least, has a job with the civil defence force, which guarantees him a monthly salary. But other villagers are not as lucky, particularly because the mega development projects popping up throughout the former war zone have skipped over Mamaduwa.

Most of the villagers here make a living by farming, though a harsh drought across the country has brought cultivation to a near complete halt.

Still, even when harvests are plentiful – as they were six months ago according to Sampath – farmers find themselves struggling to survive.

“This land is fertile, nothing has been planted here in the last 20 years, so even without any fertiliser, a good harvest is a guarantee,” Sampath said.

But a bumper harvest doesn’t necessarily mean bumper profits. The faulty road system, which excludes Mamaduwa from easy access to local markets, allowed transporters and wholesale buyers from Vavuniya town, 30 kilometres away, to drive down the prices of farm produce.

“If the roads were (better), we would have been able to save some money,” Sampath said.

Former war zone struggling

The problem extends beyond a dearth of transportation facilities, electricity, schools and health centres in the interior areas of the island’s former war zone.

Jobs, too, are scarce. The Central Bank recently stated that the North was one of the country’s fastest-growing regions between 2011 and 2012 – achieving double-digit growth rates as high as 27 percent after the war.

But early this year a joint survey by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the World Food Programme and the Ministry of Health found that over 37 percent of the population in the Northern Province listed daily labour as their main source of income.

Economists point out that the main reason behind the province’s high growth rates is the introduction of major infrastructure projects like roads and electrification.

That trend, according to economist Muttukrishna Sarvananthan, principal researcher at the Point Pedro Development Institute based in northern Jaffna, is not helping job creation.

Sarvananthan told IPS most development projects are reliant on technology or heavy machinery rather than labour, which is abundant in the north.

“In a post-war geographic area where the educational and skill levels of the local population – especially of the youth – are low, it would have been prudent to deploy labour-intensive construction methods,” he said.

To make matters worse, large companies and investment firms have been reluctant to physically set up facilities in the former war zone. The only major exception appears to be MAS Holdings, a large international apparel supplier that is setting up three factories in the Vanni.

Anush Wijesinha, an economist with the Institute of Policy Studies, also blames the employment deficit on the lack of incentives given out to local small and medium-scale enterprises, which could boost growth across the region.

Public officials in the region told IPS that the government has recognised the slow pace of social empowerment, and has taken adequate steps to improve the situation.

Roopavathi Ketheeswaran, the top public official in the Kilinochchi District, told IPS that vocational training facilities for youth were being set up in the region, with an eye on providing manpower for long-term reconstruction efforts.

“Special steps have been taken to engage the youth in the development process. Vocational training is provided to many youth,” she said.

Robert Peiris, the additional secretary at the North East Reawakening Programme, which operates under the ministry of economic development, agrees that one of the ways to break the employment jinx is to work with the available labour force.

“For that, we need time to develop workers’ skills,” he pointed out, adding that the ministry is indeed paying close attention to the skills required for the construction sector.

“If we can impart these skills, the trainees can find jobs even outside the region,” Peiris said.

WikiLeaks: Solheim Presented Five Points Plan To Present To The GoSL And Tigers

By Colombo Telegraph -October 19, 2012 

“Solheim summarized five points that the Co-Chairs agreed to present to the government and Tigers: – There is no international support for war in Sri Lanka. The conflict cannot be won through military means. – Human rights abuses must stop now. There are no acceptable excuses. As long as human rights abuses continue, all those working in Sri Lanka (aid groups, journalists, businesspeople, etc.) will continue to be afraid. – Both parties must give uninhibited humanitarian access, even if the war continues. – If the government wants to restart talks, it must establish contact with the Tigers, at least through Norway. The government cannot be advised by the Norwegian facilitators if the latter have no contact with the Tigers. Preparations for potential talks should begin immediately. – The All Parties process should be completed, and a credible devolution package for resolving the conflict presented. (FYI: On this point, Solheim thought not much progress will result from the All Parties process. Even if there is a devolution proposal, he believes it is unlikely to be of interest to the Tamil Tigers.)” the US Embassy Oslo informed Washington.

A Leaked “CONFIDENTIAL” US diplomatic cable, dated July 24, 2007, recounts the details of a meeting the representatives of the Sri Lanka Co-Chairs (United States, European Union, Japan, and Norway) has had in Oslo on June 29,2007 to discuss the  developments in Sri Lanka.The Colombo Telegraph found the related leaked cable from the WikiLeaks database which is classified by DCM Kevin M. Johnson.

Related posts to this cable;

WikiLeaks: GSL And LTTE Not Interested In Diplomatic Niceties – Solheim To Co-Chairs In 2007

WikiLeaks: Boucher Noted The Difficulty In “Reading” Prabhakaran

CPA condemns poster attacks

Sri Lanka Mirror

Wednesday, 17 October 2012

(Srilankamirror) The Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) views with very serious concern the appearance of posters in Sinhala on Monday, 15th October 2012 in the environs of Colombo. The English translation of the text of the posters  which states:“Let us save the pro-people Divineguma Act that builds the lives of fifteen lakhs of lowincome families from the Paikiasothy gang that aids and abets the separation of thecountry.” Photographs of the poster are attached. The chilling import of the reference to CPA Executive Director, Dr. Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu, requires no emphasis in the current political climate of violence against critics of the government and the culture of impunity for perpetrators. This is the most recent attack against CPA and its Executive Director. It must be unreservedly condemned, the CPA statement reads. 

Beyond the vilification and incitement of public hatred against an individual, we are concerned that these developments signify deeper changes that seem to be occurring in our post-war political culture. The government seems increasingly to regard not only critique and dissent from civil society, but also any constitutional restraints on its poweras unacceptable to its agenda, and its stock response to any form of democratic dissent is to accuse opponents of a lack of patriotism. It seems to regard populism and majoritarianism as the only legitimate elements and forms of democracy, and needless to reiterate, CPA is founded on a set of beliefs, which are directly contrary to such perspectives on democracy.

We believe that forms of electoral democracy that are unrestrained by constitutional controls, checks and balances, the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary, fundamental rights and minority protections, devolution, and a vibrant and skeptical electorate, media and civil society, constitute no democracy at all. The emasculation of these fundamental principles in the purported interests of economic development is not only a false dichotomy, but also serves to corrode the traditions of choice and change we have enjoyed as part of the democratic way of life since 1931.

In the light of recent manipulations of the Constitution, the strengthening of the executive at the expense of both Parliament and democracy, the undermining of established arrangements for ensuring good governance, the treatment of political opponents, violence against protestors, activists and journalists, enforced disappearances, attacks on the independence of the judiciary, the militarisation of civic life, and the pervasive culture of impunity, we wish to state categorically that we see a process taking place in Sri Lanka today which is aimed at dismantling surviving liberal democratic institutions and norms, including through the demonisation of critical voices.

Tamil politicians, activists protest against SL military attacks on civic leaders in Jaffna

Tamil politicians, activists protest against SL military attacks on civic leaders in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Thursday, 18 October 2012, 01:20 GMT]
Tamil politicians and civil activists on Wednesday protested condemning the brutal attack Sunday on Paramsothy Vasanthakumar, the elected chairman of Nalloor Piratheasa Chapai (PS). Vasanthakumar was on his way to prepare a legal suit after lodging a formal complaint against the illegal SL military occupation of 5 acres of land belonging to the civic body when he was attacked. The attackers, alleged to be the operatives of the SL military intelligence, had followed Mr Vasanthakumar in motorbikes, assaulted him using sharp iron rods at Kokkuvil and forcibly removed the legal documents on the SL military occupied land together with a sum of money. The protestors on Wednesday openly blamed the SL military intelligence in Jaffna for carrying out a systematic campaign of terror, targeting elected civic leaders in the peninsula. 

The protestors repeatedly shouted ‘Go Home, Military’ on Wednesday during the protest. 


Ms Komathy, the vice chairman of Nalloor PS, 17 Oct 2012 by TamilNet
The vice chairman of the Nalloor Piratheasa Chapai, Ms Komathy, said several civic leaders have been subjected to attacks and almost all the activities undertaken to improve the welfare of the people are getting blocked. She urged the global community to come forward to ensure the freedom of Tamils. They are not even allowed to open a children's park in their own land, Komathy said.



Addressing the protestors, former TNA MP and a political leader of TELO, Mr MK Sivajilingam, said the military land grab taking place and the prevailing threat against all civil protests only strengthened the argument that there should be an international investigation on the question of Tamil genocide and the genocidal onslaught that had taken place in Vanni claiming more than 40,000 lives of Tamil civilians. 
M K Sivajilingam, 17 Oct 2012 by TamilNet

 Kajendren, 17 Oct 2012 by TamilNet

TNA parliamentarian Mr Sritharan, in his speech, explained the nature of Sri Lankan military occupation prevailing in the historic Tamil homeland where Eezham Tamils are denied of their nationhood and the so-called democratic Sri Lanka of Mahinda Chintana is attacking even the grassroots level civic leaders of Eezham Tamils. 
TNA MP S. Sritharan, 17 Oct 2012 by TamilNet

Addressing the protest, another TNA MP, E. Saravanpavan, blamed the Sri Lanka military intelligence for the attacks on civic leaders in Jaffna. 
TNA MP E Saravanapavan, 17 Oct 2012 by TamilNet

Mr Vasanthakumar, a retired village officer (GS) and an elected representative of the TNA, the ruling party of the Nalloor civic body, narrowly escaped death on Sunday after being attacked, and was admitted to the Jaffna Teaching Hospital with serious injuries. 

The attackers were wearing black helmets with tinted glass covering their faces, according to Mr Vasanthakumar. 

The latest attack is reported in the wake of a series of harassments and threats posed by the intelligence operatives of the occupying SL military at various places in the peninsula, TNA representatives, who took part in the protest told TamilNet.

The civic representatives also complained that only two TNA parliamentarians were present at the protest. 

The campaign of terror is being waged by the SL military intelligence against the civic representatives after the elected civic bodies in the peninsula jointly resolved to oppose the illegal occupation of the lands by the SL military.
Mr Vasanthakumar was targeted while he was on his way from the Jaffna Police to his attorney to prepare a legal suit against the SL military occupying the land at Thirunelveali, where the civic body had reserved the land to construct a children's park. 

The SL military has put up a camp with Chinese assistance at the disputed land. 
The civic representatives close to Mr Vasanthakumar also suspect the SL police in Jaffna for passing information to the SL military intelligence on the complaint he had lodged at their station.

No complaints , no evidence, no charges against KP : MaRa regime says

KP – regime partnership in drugs and illicit arms deals

(Lanka-e-News -18.Oct.2012, 11.55PM) The Rajapakse regime once again shamelessly demonstrated to the whole world on the 17th that it protects and promotes terrorists by officially announcing at a media briefing at its media headquarters in regard to national security that Kumaran Padmanathan alias K.P ., one of the three main power pillars of the LTTE ,and who is now among the living , as having no witnesses ,complaints or charges against him, while there are two arrest warrants internationally issued against KP as an international terrorist. If there are no evidence against an individual , yet , if the Interpol has issued two warrants against that individual , surely, the Interpol must be joking or else our regime clowns are joking in order to make the law an ass. It is not known whether SL withdrew the warrant in connection with the Rajiv Gandhi assassination at the request of India. But the warrant issued in India is still valid linked to charges based on use of arms and explosive devices while engaging in terrorist activities. Despite these glaring facts and revelations , strangely , when answering a question posed by a foreign journalist at the media briefing yesterday (17) at the media headquarters regarding national security, the reply given was , there are no complaints or evidence against KP , and the Govt. has given KP all the freedom to him to move about as he wishes. It was also disclosed that KP is running a non Govt. Organization (NGO) supposedly for the welfare of the people of the north. However sometime ago , the Govt. Cabinet spokesman said , he is a State witness. If he is to become a Govt. witness , he must necessarily have been an accused earlier. Irrespective of what any judge may say , that is the plain truth. Today , K P has suddenly been transformed as not an accused. A top flight officer of the terrorist investigation division (TID) speaking to Lanka e news said , there are indictments against KP in connection with the bombing of the Central Bank , bomb explosion at Air Lanka and many other crimes which can be proved as committed by him. The Penal code provisions of SL that are invoked all the time against the media state thus : Section 115 : conspiracy to overthrow a legally elected Govt . is punishable with a jail sentence of 20 years. Section 116 : Taking arms to wage war against a legally elected Govt. is punishable with a 20 years jail sentence, a fine and confiscation of assets . Section 117 : Aiding and abetting to overthrow a legally elected Govt. is punishable with a ten year jail sentence. Based on the foregoing punishable offences , it is crystal clear that all the above charges can be filed against KP . Leaving all these charges aside, going by the live interview of his with a journalist D B S Jeyaraj the latest sycophant cum journalist coolie of the Govt. and who is now stooping to the lowliest levels to bootlick the Govt. is alone enough to press charges against K P on the afore noted penal code provisions, in which case he is punishable with a sentence of 50 years in jail. Even as these reports were being published by the media, a foreign journalist based in London speaking to Lanka e news stated , ‘your country Sri Lanka is the one and only in the whole world that has earned the discredit of allowing an illicit arms dealer to be free . In this respect , SL is not only an odious model to Asia but to he whole world as well’, he added. Despite all these heinous criminal charges heaped upon K P, the Rajapakse regime regardless, took great pains to whitewash them and paint a picture that K P is having a clean slate at the media briefing on the 17th. Why is MaRa regime having this strong repugnant motive? Let us explain …How did the LTTE get funds to fight the war against the Govt. for 30 years ? It is an incontrovertible fact that these funds were provided by the Tamil Diaspora. During the final phase of the war , the LTTE income according to the Govt. intelligence unit was about US dollars 500 million per year ( that is only what surfaced ). In other words the income in SL rupees was 50,000 million. They deployed this income in drug and international illicit weapons businesses. LTTE Organization was a hub for these illicit businesses in Asia. They had a fleet of seven aircrafts to facilitate these businesses. The trio who knew the ins and outs of these operations was Prabhakaran , Pottu Amman and K P. It is only KP who is now living. With the annihilation of the LTTE the illicit drugs and arms businesses have lost the hub. This has created a void. That means there is still room to earn this Rs. 50000 million. The Rajapakses’ gaze got fixed on these two businesses. Rajapakses who are not caring for the Parliament and its supremacy or the Democratic traditions when using the public treasury funds, and having grabbed all the powers by fair and foul means to do what they want to according to their whims and fancies , has uncontrolled power to dabble in any illicit businesses. The illicit drug transactions partly came to light through Duminda Silva and Lansas’ episodes. Yet another transaction of the many illicit arms deals also got exposed when a secret ship load of arms of Gotabaya was impounded by the Abu Dhabi Govt. recently and that hit the news headlines. The Rajapakses are anxious to open new Airports not to facilitate foreign travel of the people but to facilitate their contraband movements. The present eagerness to build armories is also to achieve those clandestine goals.It is therefore unsurprising K P who was the mastermind behind all the illicit transactions for Prabhakaran then had become the mastermind for the Rajapakses’ roguish minds now. In these circumstances , where can there be charges against KP ? Where can there be complaints against him when he has become the source of illicit income of Rs. 50000 million annually for the Rajapakses ? Are the murderous Rajapakses to be permitted to do their utmost to whitewash all the evil doings of KP and project him as a ‘clean’ LTTE by claiming there are no charges, no witnesses , no complaints against KP who used the C 4 brought in by him to destroy the Dalada Maligawa to dust ? The people are keenly watching and waiting to see what the pair of Mahanayakes will do who even go so far as to advise Range Bandara who assaulted women and broke their hips to attend the rally or not . The people are also watching with eyes wide open to see what cardboard patriot opened mouth Wimal Weerawansa; Rathane the Sadhu and Champika the quasi sadhu of the JHU ,and the Bodhu Bala Sena are going to do .

The Path To Accountability And Reconciliation In Sri Lanka

By G.K. Nathan -October 18, 2012 

Dr. G.K. Nathan

Recently concluded General Debate at the 67th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Sri Lanka External Affairs Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris said that “The noticeable recent tendency to selectively and arbitrarily intervene in the internal affairs of states flies in the face of this principle and dilutes the confidence so carefully nurtured in the UN system.” During the same session United Nation Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has highlighted the need to find a political solution immediately to the underlying factors of the conflict in Sri Lanka and drew the attention of Prof G.L. Peiris that a political solution should be found “without further delay.” Contrary to the above assertion by Prof. G.L. Peiris at the UN, International community did not intervene in Sri Lanka, as they did in countries in the Middle East; but their appeal to stop the war, to respect human rights and seek reconciliation fell on deaf ears of President Rajapaksa. Government of Sri Lanka (GSL) conducted a ferocious war without any respect to international humanitarian and international human rights laws in the guise to “get rid of terrorism” at the end death was put at 40,000 and that figure has been upped to 75,000 at the book launch of “Still Counting the Dead” by Frances Harrison. During the war and thereafter, evidence has emerged from independent sources, more are still coming to light that war crimes and crimes against humanity have occurred during the prolonged military conflict which ended on 18 May 2009.

Western countries and human rights organizations have called for an Independent International Inquiry to determine the truth; only recognizing that Sri Lanka is made up of multilingual, multiethnic and multireligious people will help to move towards reconciliation suitable for a country with a mixed and complex social set up. Unfortunately, the end of “war against terrorists” neither brought real peace nor protection of human rights in the country; on the contrary, the human and political rights of people of Sri Lanka have deteriorated, further. Hundreds of thousands of people, Tamils and Muslims were victims of the conflict, have not returned to their original places of residence because those areas are either declared as High Security Zone (HSZ) or occupied by the armed forces. A recent media report revealed sixteen of the nineteen divisions of Sri Lanka military are in the North and East of the Island. GSL’s economic activities mostly focus on building roads and bridges with borrowed money contributing to inflationary pressure on the economy, while the working conditions are worsening and employees’ unrest is spreading and demanding equitable and fair working conditions. At the same, time political power and wealth is accumulating in the hands of a few. Disappearances and murders are happening with full impunity and being used as a way of silencing dissent. Deterioration of social and economic conditions of the people is driving them to suicide which is one of the highest in the world and the people have become the victims of forces unleashed by the current regime. Will this sew the seed of dissent and uprising of the people?

The forthcoming 14th session of Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in November 2012, Sri Lanka is one of the sixteen countries whose human rights record will be reviewed. This gives an opportunity to critically look at Sri Lanka’s human rights record and assess what GSL has done, since the review in 2008. Also, at the 22nd session of United Nation Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in March 2013, Sri Lanka’s progress with respect to the resolution A/HRC/19/L.2 which was passed at 19th Session proposed by USA and supported by countries from Europe, South America, a few from Africa and India was the only one from Asia will be scrutinized. The scrutiny at UPR and UNHRC sessions should define a new path to follow, to determine the accountability followed by reconciliation among multilingual, multiethnic and multireligious people of Sri Lanka.

Political Developments and Concentration of Power                                                          Read More