Colombo surveys commanding coast of Gulf of Mannaar for appropriation

Red circled coastal stretches in the Palk Bay and the Gulf of Mannaar: 1. Northern coast of Jaffna peninsula, along with its harbour and airport, already appropriated by the occupying SL military. 2. The coast commanding the Gulf of Mannaar that is being surveyed now for appropriation. [Satellite image courtesy: Google Earth. Legend by TamilNet]

[TamilNet, Monday, 29 October 2012, 06:36 GMT]
The genocidal state in Colombo has started surveying a strategically located coastal strip along the Gulf of Mannaar in the occupied country of Eezham Tamils, for appropriation initially in the guise of mineral cum economic exploitation by external firms, but ultimately for the genocidal-military purposes of sealing off Eezham Tamils, wedging them from Tamil Nadu at the closest contact points and to effectively check the Indian coast in any eventualities in the future. The current moves in the Mannaar coast follows the appropriation of the northern coast of the Jaffna Peninsula for the SL military and for the activities of a Chinese firm.

Sinhala surveyors of Sri Lanka’s Survey Department from the south have recently come to Mannaar to survey the entire coast from Thalai-mannaar pier to Arippu in the district, facing the Gulf of Mannaar. The local Tamil surveyors of the SL department were also instructed directly from Colombo to work with them.
The project is being carried out without intimation to even the SL Government Agent in Mannaar, informed sources said. 
Circulating speculations on the reasons for the survey project range from ilmenite mining to lease going directly or indirectly to a power outside of the region.
The particular stretch of coast commands the entire Gulf of Mannaar.

The area of Sinhala militarisation and colonisation in the Mannaar district.

Occupying Sri Lanka’s military installations and cantonments were already established at Thalai-mannaar, Tha’l’laadi and at Arippu, along the stretch. Tha’l’laadi has a large base and a new one is being built at Channaar on the Palk Bay side.

China is in the forefront in building cantonments for the occupying Sinhala military.

Coupled with Sinhala military activities and land grab, a systematic project is now being carried out by Colombo’s ministers and agents to incite communal disharmony among the Tamil-speaking peoples of the district, especially between Muslims and Catholics, the major communities of the district.

Meanwhile, Buddhist establishments and statues are built widely in the district where there are no Buddhists at all at present, but perhaps with plans of colonisation in the near future. Some of the statues erected are waiting for ‘unveiling’.
The strategic part of the district, commanding both the Palk Bay and the Gulf of Mannaar as well as commanding the closest communication line with the Tamil Nadu coast, has become a hive of intense Sinhala militarisation and demographic changes in recent times.
Detail of the coast facing the Gulf of Mannar that is being surveyed now, from Thalai-Mannaar Pier to Arippu. . [Satellite image courtesy: Google Earth. Legend by TamilNet]

Comments from an Eezham Tamil political analyst in the island:

Ever since its independence from the British, the Sinhala state in Colombo was consistent in coupling its genocide of the nation of Eezham Tamils with its anticipation and preparation for a military confrontation with India at some stage, at some time.
New Delhi’s policies of appeasement to diffuse this congenital attitude of the Sinhala state, first by pawning the Tamils of Indian origin in the island and later by pawning and effectively abetting the genocide of the nation of Eezham Tamils, have resulted only in Colombo grooming its militarisation cum genocide further and inviting all the belligerent elements of the world into the island.
When belligerence comes from the island, now it will be definitely an internationalised one, thanks to the failures of New Delhi in keeping the issue within the region by firmly taking the side of solutions justifiable to humanity and logical to a chronic national question. 
Sooner or later, people in the front line of the receiving end of Colombo’s belligerency are going to be the Tamils of Tamil Nadu.

Political observers have long been warning on the policy of Krishna Menon legacy in New Delhi that failed with China in the northern frontier in 1962, now failing in the southern flank due to its arrogance and biases.
But time is now fast running out for people to believe that any changes in the power equations would make New Delhi to realize and undo the injustice committed on the nation of Eezham Tamils, as some gullible ones say, or for people to harp on that some other power would come forward to bring in just solutions.
Only an internationalized mass struggle in unison with other affected peoples of the world, countering all the powers to their edification, would bring in any real changes in the order.
If the cause is universally noble and if the strategy is righteous, Tamils need not hesitate in opting for such a struggle. 

More than the so-called development to rebuild them, what the Tamils actually need to keep their souls and existence going is confidence in their cause that it is universally noble and beneficial to entire humanity. 

No development of one’s own, or even the so-called rehabilitation, could take place without such an ideology. Eezham Tamils are not like any of the defeated powers of the WWII or like some of the fallen regimes of the world to be ashamed of any aggression and to think of a future with the acceptance of defeat. International struggle is their right.

Being the largest formation in the immediate region, the Tamils of Tamil Nadu have to realise their responsibility in effectively internationalising the mass struggle.

With An Impeachment On The Kerb, “Single Issues” And Dissenting “Left” Worth Nothing In SL

By Kusal Perera -October 29, 2012

Kusal Perera

A new Rajapaksa campaign is now given unofficial prominence. That of impeaching the Chief Justice. It was reported a few days ago, some Ministers have put their signatures at an auspicious time, last Friday. Of course it was also said the signatures were on blank paper. But, the reports indicated the signatures were meant for impeachment of the CJ.

This comes in the wake of a Court indictment against Pradeep Kariyawasam, husband of Chief Justice, Bandaranayake. Kariyawasam as chairman, along with the entire board of directors of the National Savings Bank resigned, over its investments in the The Finance Company, turning out into a massive scandal. The regime it seems have already worked behind scene to align retired Director Administration, Abeygunasekera, to provide evidence against Kariyawasam, Now the next question that is posed is, “can the Chief Justice continue when her husband is hauled before the Courts as an accused in a big fraud case ?” There is going to be opposition to Bandaranayake continuing as CJ and President of the JSC, while her husband is tried in a Magistrate’s Court. The issue of “conflict of interest” will be raised publicly. Beyond all that, what if he is remanded over the case, for further investigations, if the Police say they want to ?” Anything is possible when it is not an elected government that makes and bends rules, but a family cabal.

One stinking stupid in fact went on record with privileges, saying the Courts should be stoned. There is the more plausible possibility of some eccentric politician, the UPFA has many of them in different shades and shapes, taking to the streets in front of the Fort Railway Station or at the Lipton Square, demanding the “CJ should Resign !” That would then turn out as public opinion. The State media is on the prowl looking for any such video clip that could make their headlines. Meanwhile the impeachment initiative would be kept, on the roll.

Such would have very serious repercussions in Sri Lankan politics that is now being tested in the judiciary in terms of Constitutional provisions. This would have a damaging impact over all issues from that of Mannar Magistrate’s issue and Minister Bathiudeen’s contempt of Court case to the “Divineguma Bill” and the Provincial Councils. In fact, it is the “Divineguma Bill” that lies at the bottom of all these crises. The “right” of the Royal family cabal to rule as they please.

Read More

Extreme Weather Hits the Poor First – and Hardest

By Amantha Perera

According to the World Bank, the urban poor in Sri Lanka are most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Credit: Amantha Perera/IPS

, Sri Lanka, Oct 28 2012 (IPS) - The old adage ‘nature is the great equaliser’ no longer holds true in countries like Sri Lanka, where the poor bear the brunt of extreme weather events.

Gamhevage Dayananda, a farmer from the remote village of Pansalgolla in Sri Lanka’s north-central Polonnaruwa district, can attest to this reality, as he and his fellow farmers struggle to survive alternating periods of drought and flooding.

Unexpectedly heavy rains in February 2011 forced engineers to open the sluice gates of large irrigation tanks in the area, flooding hectare upon hectare of farmland, including Dayananda’s modest plot.

He lost his entire rice harvest, no small setback for his family of four who depend on this crop for their very survival.

This year, Dayananda found himself facing another crisis when drought destroyed his crop and put him at risk of falling deeper into debt.

“One season it’s all rain, next it’s all sun,” Dayananda told IPS. “There is nothing in moderation, it is all in extremes.”

The trend of extreme weather events alternating year after year is unlikely to change, according to W L Sumathipala, former head of the climate change unit at the Ministry of Environment, adding that Sri Lanka is at the receiving end of changing climate patterns.

Last year’s annual report for the United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) noted, “Climate-related emergencies, such as those linked to drought, floods, and storms, expose the poor and most vulnerable to hazards that have lasting consequences for the health, livelihoods, and well-being of people who have the least capacity to cope with and mitigate the effects of natural disasters.”

Widespread poverty

Currently about 8.9 percent of this South Asian island nation’s 21 million people live below the poverty line.

Of these, according to Abha Joshi-Ghani, head of the World Bank’s Urban Development and Local Government Unit, “the poor in urban areas are likely to be affected more by the changing climate patterns. They are the most vulnerable because they live in sensitive areas, on precarious land where no one else will settle.”

The British-based charity Homeless International estimates that 12 percent of Sri Lanka’s urban population of about three million can be found in slums.

Defence and Urban Development Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa was recently quoted as saying that shanty dwellers in the capital Colombo can be found “mostly on government lands”.

“Many of them are on the reservations set aside around the lakes, canals, roadways, and railway tracks,” he added.

The biggest threat to this population is the flash flood. Since 2007, the nation’s capital – along with other parts of the western region – has already been submerged more than two dozen times.

Some areas end up under water after just 30 minutes of heavy rain, as was experienced during the third week of October.

This situation can be traced in part to the capital’s compromised drainage capacity. But increasingly heavy downpours over the years have made matters worse, particularly since there are no signs this trend will let up anytime soon.

In its Second National Communication on Climate Change 2012, the environment ministry says that Colombo and the rest of the western plains can only expect more wet days ahead, with “intense” periods of rain.

By contrast, rice farmers are probably going to have to deal with long dry spells for some time to come. According to the environment ministry, the agrarian areas in parts of the east and northern provinces, including Polonnaruwa, will not only get less rain than they need, they will also experience higher temperatures.

The Central Bank estimates that a 0.5-degree Celsius rise in temperatures could reduce rice yields by around five percent.

Thus it should come as no surprise that an Asian Development Bank report last year identified climate change as the “greatest threat to food security”.

Local sustainable development expert Riza Yehiya also warned, “Food security fluctuations due to climate change will be accompanied by unsteady energy security, modern society’s greatest prerequisite (next to food and water).”

“The combined effects of this triumvirate – water, food, and energy insecurity – will render poorer sections of society extremely vulnerable unless social security for this sector is beefed up as part of the climate change mitigation programme.”

Last April, farmers in Polonnaruwa took to the streets after irrigation engineers stopped providing water because of the drought. At the time, the farmers said more than 16,000 hectares of paddy fields feeding off the Parakarama Samudarya irrigation tank were already in danger of going completely dry.

After being hit by floods in the early part of 2011, which destroyed over 16,000 hectares of paddy fields and roughly ten percent of the early harvest, rice farmers in the north and north-central regions are now facing the opposite end of that spectrum.

Severe drought during the first nine months of 2012 affected 1.3 million people, a rapid assessment by the World Food Programme (WFP) found.

Experts have estimated that close to 29 percent of an estimated harvest of 1.1 million metric tones will be lost, while 76,000 hectares, or 19 percent of the planted crop has already been destroyed.

“Preliminary findings indicate substantial livelihood impact on a broad spectrum of the population and a deterioration of food security,” according to the WFP Global Food Security Update for October.

Muttukrishna Sarvananthan, a prominent economist, believes that unemployment could be as high as 20 percent in some parts of the Northern Province, though no government data exists to support this view.

*This story was produced as part of IPS Asia-Pacific’s ‘Climate Change: A Reporting Lens from Asia’ series.

The Politics Of The 13th Amendment Contd: Diabolical Machinations Of A Defunct Capitalist State

 By Surendra Ajit Rupasinghe -October 29, 2012 

Ajit Rupasinghe

One might think that the hasty response by the Regime to declare that there is no decision to abrogate the 13th Amendment- at the present time, is an indication that it has backed down in the face of rising opposition, got afraid of the possible repercussions in Geneva, or that some chauvinist militarist cabal acting on its own impulse has been brought to heel by the Chief Executive, or worse, that it has abandoned its renewed offensive against the Tamil nation and its people- which the call for the abrogation of the 13th Amendment is intended to achieve . To believe so would be to entertain fatal illusions.

The continued and unrelenting offensive to wipe out the political status of the Tamil nation and impose and enforce the undisputed hegemonic domain of the unitary Sinhala-Buddhist/ Comprador Capitalist State had been initiated and intensified by every successive government. Both major Capitalist parties –the UNP and the SLFP-have competed to represent the cause of Sinhala-Buddhist supremacy and hegemony, while playing a game of chess with the fate of the Tamil nation. There is no need to recall the history of deception and betrayal of the Tamil nation by the State and it’s successive regimes. Every time the government introduced even the most truncated forms of sharing political power through devolution, the Opposition has sabotaged it. Both these parties are responsible for systematic discrimination and violent suppression of the Tamil people, including unleashing state-sponsored communal pogroms. Championing the cause of Sinhala supremacy and Sinhala-Buddhist hegemony was never intended to serve the oppressed Sinhala masses, but to deceive and manipulate them so that they turn their wrath – their frustration, pain and anger at being duped, chewed and spat out by the system – against the Tamil nation and its people. It is designed to manipulate the masses to support the rulers in their policy of ‘divide and rule’, which only serve to ensnare and enslave the oppressed masses-whether Sinhala, Tamil or Moslem- in their conditions of oppression. The two main Capitalist parties are served in this diabolical game by a host of other junior partners – such as the JVP, JHU, NFF, LSSP, CP and other such deformities- who form coalitions and alliances, and governments with them, to get their own piece of the cake, to grab their fill of the blood feast. This has been the trajectory of the so-called Westminster system of bourgeois parliamentary democracy imposed by the British.                                       Read More

Sri Lanka, many shades of accountability

VIDURA 29 October 2012

A long-awaited review on the conduct of United Nations agencies during the last stages of the war in Sri Lanka is stull unpublished, and its terms of reference are shrouded in secrecy. There are further questions over its authorship and process. All this raises questions over how seriously Ban Ki-moon and his colleagues take this important matter, says a Sri Lankan observer who writes under the pen-name Vidura.  

n the last stages of Sri Lanka's war in 2010, tens of thousands of civilians were killed in the north of the country. No one has to date been held to account for these deaths. Many people have discussed the question of the accountability of the government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) and demanded action, while the UN secretary-general’s panel of experts (PoE) recommended that the government undertake independent and credible investigations.

While little has changed in the government’s position on the issue, "accountability" remains a problem for it, leading Sri Lanka's president, Mahinda Rajapakse, and his colleagues to retreat from their earlier claims of "zero casualties" and other such denials. The government was compelled to appoint a "lessons learned" commission and military-inquiry panels. These are not enough: war-crimes and crimes against humanity are a serious matter, and they appear unlikely to leave the agenda of the international community any time soon. Even more importantly, they will remain an issue in the country, for both killed and killers are Sri Lankans, and both the memories and the evidence are hard to extinguish.

But another entity, whose acts and omissions contributed to the deaths of thousands of civilians (and the internment of hundreds of thousands), also needs to held to account. Since the closing stages of the war the conduct of the United Nations in Sri Lanka has been under scrutiny for failing to live up to its protection mandate and to ensure that humanitarian principles (of which it was the custodian) were upheld. For many of the people affected by the war, the UN became at best an irrelevant actor and at worst complicit during a crucial time when they were at their most vulnerable - be it in the war-zone when they were held as human shields by the guerrillas of the LTTE, or being fired upon by the Sri Lankan armed forces, or subsequently when they were being processed through various checkpoints without witness and incarcerated in Menik Farm's "welfare" centres.

The United Nations and its various bodies, which were set up precisely to prevent such atrocities, failed in their mandate to protect these civilians. They let politics, negligence, vested interests and plain incompetence block what should have been their priority: protecting the lives of children, women and men in Sri Lanka. The weight of evidence implicating the UN compelled the panel of experts (PoE) to recommend to the secretary-general that he should "conduct a comprehensive review of actions by the United Nations system during the war in Sri Lanka and the aftermath, regarding the implementation of its humanitarian and protection mandates".

It is interesting to recall how the responses to the PoE's recommendations evolved. The government of Sri Lanka appointed a commission, conducted hearings and produced a coherent report. These had serious shortcomings, including some fatal flaws with regard to probing accountability. Both the process and the report's content were criticised by Sri Lanka's political parties and civil society, as well as international organisations such as the International Crisis Group, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and several others. Even the governments of the United States and India made their views known.

The "Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission" (LLRC) at its inception was criticised for lacking independence and impartiality. It was said to be composed of individuals with serious conflict of interest whom the government handpicked for the job. Its mandate was limited and at best was ambiguous about accountability. The hearings were compromised by the militarised context and the absence of an adequate witness-protection mechanism. Above all it was accused, rightly so, of being a time-buying/wasting exercise by a president who had no interest in an independent investigation. Clearly, the Sri Lankan government should have done better.

The context         Sri Lanka, many shades of accountability>>>Read More

                                                            

Reply To Lucien Rajakarunanayake: Why Not A Referendum On Kashmir-Eelam?

By S. V. Kirubaharan -October 28, 2012 |

S. V. Kirubaharan

I read Lucien Rajakarunanayake’s article, “Why not a referendum on Kashmir-Eelam?” published in the Sri Lankan government media, the ‘Daily News’ of 28 April 2012.  Even though it is late, I would like to write some brief comments about this article.

In the past I have sent a few comments, replies and queries regarding some articles appearing in the ‘Daily News’. But they were neither published nor did I receive a reply. Therefore, I don’t want to waste time anymore in sending comments to the ‘Daily News’.

It is well known that presently there are only a few independent media in Sri Lanka, and they are scared to publish anything against the government, especially against the Rajapaksa family.

Lucien Rajakarunanayake is not part of the Rajapaksa family, but he is one of the people who writes and defends the Rajapaksas. Therefore I am sending this to a few other media.

Firstly, let me briefly outline Rajakarunanayake’s point of view in “Why not a referendum on Kashmir-Eelam?” He expects Leaders and the people of Tamil Nadu to shut their mouth on anything concerning the Tamils in Sri Lanka and to limit their business to affairs concerning India, including Kashmir”. In other words,   Rajakarunanayake says, “Charity begins at home”.

Does not then the same theory apply to Sri Lanka? If so, in March 2001 why was Sri Lanka so worried when the ruling Taliban destroyed those two giant Buddha statues in Afghanistan?

Buddhists in Sri Lanka marched through Colombo protesting against the demolition of these statues. Then Sri Lanka’s President Chandrika Kumaratunga wrote a protest letter on 05 March 2001 to the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan,  “……The Government of Sri Lanka stands ready and willing to do everything within its own capacity, and to join all international endeavours, to save from destruction these objects of particular reverence to Buddhists which, indeed, belong to the ancient heritage of all mankind.”

During the demolition of these Buddha statues in Afghanistan, did Rajakarunanayake say to  Buddhists in Sri Lanka, that they should learn to respect other religions in Sri Lanka before they speak about Buddhist statues in Afghanistan? Or did he consider Buddhists’ strong sentiments and values regarding their religion as an exceptional case? Then why does he continue his full moon wolf howls about Leaders from Tamil Nadu suggesting anything concerning the Tamils in Sri Lanka?

Secondly, he says, “In any case, Kosovo or Montenegro, South Sudan or East Timor is not comparable to Sri Lanka”, why? Has he ever gone through each and every case and compared each of them to the situation of the Tamils, especially in the North and East in Sri Lanka?

Rajakarunanayake also says, “………..From the time of Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru to this day India has rejected any attempt to genuinely resolve the Jammu Kashmir issue, by not creating the necessary conditions to hold the UN mandated plebiscite – the vote by which the people of a political unit determine autonomy or affiliation with another country.”

Well and good, if this is genuinely coming from Rajakarunanayake or from the Sri Lankan government, then they should have raised this matter in the UN long before Sri Lanka raised about the Palestinians.

This year on 1^st October, Sri Lanka’s Minister of External Affairs referred in the UN General Assembly to“… the restoration of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people. Sri Lanka fully supports the implementation of all relevant UN Resolutions on Palestine that would pave the way for the achievement of Statehood for the Palestinian people and bring lasting peace to the region.” 

If Rajakarunanayake’s theory is to be accepted, would it not be correct for the Israelis to tell Sri Lanka to settle the Tamils’ political problem before they speak about the Palestinians?

Thirdly Rajakarunanayake refers to 38 sites of unmarked graves in North Kashmir and more than 10,000 missing persons in Kashmir. Concerning this matter, for anyone to take him seriously, it is worth asking, how many articles has he written so far about the mass graves or missing persons in Sri Lanka? These are just full moon wolf howls and ‘crocodile tears’.

Then why does he object to Leaders from Tamil Nadu suggesting anything concerning the Tamils in Sri Lanka?

Fourthly, he says that “Looking back at not so distant history, GlobalSecurity.org states: In 1952 the elected and overwhelmingly Muslim Constituent Assembly of Jammu and Kashmir, led by the popular Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah, voted in favour of confirming accession to India……..”.  

Looking back at recent history, Rajakarunanayake won’t have forgotten that the people in the North and East overwhelmingly voted for their right to self-determination in the general election in 1977. On 8 August 1983, J. R. Jayewardene’s government enacted the 6^th amendment to the constitution, rejecting the right to self-determination and outlawing the mandate voted by the Tamils.Rajakarunanayake should not quote and talk about only what is convenient for his argument to please his masters.

Fifthly, he says, “One cannot forget that the original call for Eelam, by the LTTE, and its political backers of the TNA had planned an Eelam that included the North and East, with little concern for the demographics of the East that would have made such a polity untenable from the outset. “

Being a veteran journalist, Rajakarunanayake should be ashamed to say that the ‘original call for Eelam (was) by the LTTE….’. It was earlier than that. I request him to read the recent history before he writes and  speaks falsification.

Before he talks about demographics of the East, he should know the statistics of the Tamil and Sinhala populations in the East until 1981. For his information:

(http://www.tchr.net/colanization.htm)

SINHALA COLONISATION>>> Read More

In post-war Jaffna, a slow piecing back of life

NIRUPAMA SUBRAMANIAN

R. K. RADHAKRISHNAN-October 28, 2012
LETTER FROM LANKA The Tamils in the northern part of the country are struggling to rebuild their lives after three decades of conflict
Pavalochini and her husband Ravikumar make a living selling bicycles. They sell them for Rs.49 a kg, for scrap is what the bikes are: rusted, twisted, bent out of shape, the tyres long gone after three years out under the scorching sun at the “bicycle graveyard” near Mullaithivu.
From their home in the Konapulam camp for the displaced in Valigamam, Ravikumar sets out once or twice a week on the 95-km journey to the graveyard.
There, Pavalochini said, he goes about collecting every scrap of metal left behind by civilians and the LTTE as they retreated stage by stage to a narrow strip of land in Mullaithivu in the final stages of the war in 2009.
Buses, vans, cars, and thousands of bicycles, damaged by the heavy shelling and their remaining parts rusted, are still heaped by the side of the road. Scrap hunters like Ravikumar forage for the good bits, especially bicycles, and bring them back home to sell.
“There are some Muslim dealers who buy these cycles for Rs.49 per kg,” said Pavalochini, as we sit talking in the shade of a mountain of bicycles in her front yard. “It might fetch Rs.65 a kg if we took it to Colombo and sold it ourselves in the scrap market, but think of the transporting costs.”
Many others in the camp are in the same business. The other day, said Pavalochini, she had to feed the children in the neighbouring house. Both parents went off scrap hunting to the graveyard, and did not return for two days.
The wartime scrap heap is a reminder of how recently the fighting ended. It also underlines how Jaffna and its people are still struggling through a layered past and present to come out of three decades of conflict and war.
Post-war Jaffna is very different from what it used to be. For one, there is no more the blanket of darkness and fear that used to fall at night, the dread of the torchlight-flashing sentry at checkpoints, and the long whistle of shells as they flew in the air before landing on their target with a deep explosive thud.

THE HOTELIER                    Full Story>>>

nirupama.s@thehindu.co.in--- radhakrishnan.rk@thehindu.co.in

Danger Of Ditching Devolution For Political Reasons

By Jehan Perera -October 29, 2012 

Jehan Perera

The government has apparently had second thoughts about abolishing the 13th Amendment that deals with devolution of power to the provinces. Its spokespersons now say that such an action is not contemplated at the present time. They even say that the government is considering how to go ahead with President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s war time promises of a political solution that is based on “13th Amendment Plus”. Whatever the President’s enigmatic statement may mean the government’s turnaround is significant. Just a few weeks ago, some of its top leaders were making statements that were very critical of the 13th Amendment and urging its abolition. However, the government’s reversal is positive to the extent that it gives some breathing space for stability to return to the deterioration that has been taking place in inter-ethnic political relations.

The most immediate justification for abolishing the 13th Amendment has come from a new recognition of its legal potency. The government has become used to using its massive 2/3 majority in Parliament to push its legislation through all democratic and legal obstacles. However, it now finds the 13th Amendment being utilized by opposition parties and civic watchdog groups to challenge the Divineguma bill that the government has presented to Parliament. The government is placing much emphasis on turning this into law as it will be greatly advantageous to itself politically. Not only will the Divineguma law give the government virtually unfettered access to local level funding, and unify the work of at least five government ministries at the community level. It also gives pension rights to large numbers of persons who are working for the government but not as regular public administrators. They would be a formidable asset to the government at future elections in terms of their ability to do grassroots level campaigning that is outside of the customary administrative regulations that outlaw partisan political activism.

The legal challenge to the Divineguma Bill has come primarily from its potential to erode the powers given to the Provincial Councils in terms of the 13th Amendment. The proposed law intrudes into areas that have been reserved for the Provincial Councils. On the one hand, many of the powers vested in the provincial councils by the 13th Amendment have been non-functional due to the lack of economic resources and non-devolution of those powers to the provincial councils. Examples would be the central government taking back powers over local level business taxation and the continuing non-devolution of even limited police and land powers. However, the concern of the government is that the 13th Amendment potentially vests these powers with the Provincial Councils, and an effective provincial administration can indeed demand them.

CONTESTED POWER                                                           Read More

Open appeal to Human Rights Council: At UPR – Sri Lanka prevail upon Sri Lanka not to dismantle the 13 amendment and provide speedy political solution
October 29th, 2012

An open appeal to the UN HRC in connection with the Universal Periodic Review in November, 2012  on Sri Lanka urging  it  to  prevail  upon Sri Lanka to stop the dismantling  the devolution of powers that have been conferred on the Provincial Councils by the provisions of the  13^th Amendment to the Constitution.

NfR Sri Lanka, a net work of journalists and human rights defenders,  makes this urgent and open appeal to the members of UN Human Rights Council in the context of the up coming second session  of the Universal Periodic Review. The human rights situation of Sri Lanka is to be reviewed during this session commencing on  1^st November 2012.

One of the major human rights issues if not the major one in Sri  Lanka, relates to the  rights of the Tamil  and Muslim communities who constitute  the principal minorities in the country to exercise devolution of powers. Post independence as well as post war, the Sri Lankan State has time and again failed to keep its promises of a political solution to the just grievances of the Tamil people and has unilaterally abrogated all agreements reached with the democratically elected representatives of the Tamil people of Sri Lanka.

At the last session of the UPR which was held on May 2008 the Government of Sri Lanka made a voluntary pledge to implement the 13^th Amendment to the Constitution. Now even though it is time for the next session is around the corner, the Tamils of the Northern Province have not yet been allowed to enjoy even the limited devolution of powers envisaged by the 13^th Amendment.

At least on three different occasions the Government of Sri Lanka has pledged to implement the provisions of the  13th Amendment.

On 13^th May 2008, during the last Sessions of the UPR  -

103. Sri Lanka will take measures for the effective implementation of the 13^th Amendment to the Constitution. (A/HRC/8/46)

On 3^rd May 2009 in the joint communiqué of GoSL President and UN SG:

President Rajapaksa expressed his firm resolve to proceed with the implementation of the 13th Amendment, as well as to begin a broader dialogue with all parties, including the Tamil parties in the new circumstances, to further enhance this process and to bring about lasting peace and development in Sri Lanka. (SG/2151)

27^th May 2009 in the UNHRC resolution supported by the GoSL:

Welcoming also the recent reassurance given by the President of Sri Lanka that he does not regard a military solution as a final solution, as well as his commitment to a political solution with implementation of the thirteenth amendment to bring about lasting peace and reconciliation in Sri Lanka. (A/HRC/8/46)

In spite of these pledges the present GoSL has started on a major campaign to dilute the devolved powers granted to the Provinces through the Divinaguma Bill. On the top of this development the President’s brother Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, the powerful Defense Secretary has launched a campaign to abolish the 13^thAmendment.  This campaign is gathering momentum among the Sinhala hardliners. President’s other brother Basil Rajapaksa. Minister of Economic Development has openly stated that the 13th Amendment could be removed or dilated through a referendum.

Although 13^th Amendment does not provide a final and complete political solution to the national issues of the Tamils in Sri Lanka, abolishing it may herald a completely centralised State which will remove even the little powers provided to the minority communities in the country to exercise powers to manage the affairs of their respective provinces.  At the same time it may considerably shrink or close the space for Tamil and Muslim political parties to engage in any meaningful provincial governance.  Such an eventuality will make a serious dent on the attempts to bring about a genuine reconciliation in post war  Sri Lanka.

In the circumstances NfR appeals to all members of the United Nations Human Rights Council to prevail on Sri Lanka at the up coming UPR session to make a strong commitment to address Tamil and Muslim people’s political aspiration through a lasting and sustainable political solution.  As a first step in this direction GOSL should renew its pledge to implement all the provisions of 13^th Amendment within a  clear time frame  and bench marks.

Sri Lanka evacuates coastline ahead of cyclone

YAHOO

Sri Lanka has ordered the evacuation of thousands of residents ahead a cyclone expected to hit the island's north-eastern coast early Tuesday, the Disaster Management Centre (DMC) said.

People living within 500 metres (550 yards) from the coast were asked to move inland before the cyclone was due to make landfall at 2:00am Tuesday (2030 GMT), DMC director Sarath Lal Kumara said.

"The evacuation applies to a coastline of about 150 kilometres (93 miles) in the island's north-east," he told AFP. "The area is thinly populated. We are issuing the evacuation notice as precaution to ensure there are no casualties."

The local meteorological department said a deep depression in the Bay of Bengal had developed into a "marginal cyclone" and was heading towards the island with wind speeds of up to 80 kilometres (50 miles) an hour.

The "marginal cyclone" was due to strike Sri Lanka's Mullaittivu district.

"Low-lying coastal areas may be slightly inundated by sea waves," the meteorological department said. "Shallow and deep sea areas off the coast will experience very rough conditions, strong winds and intermittent rain."

The region is Sri Lanka's most sparsely populated area and was the scene of the final battle between government forces and Tamil Tiger rebels in May 2009. The area had been off limits for civilians till recently.

Officials said they used tsunami early warning towers in the area to alert people to move away from the coastline.

Heavy winds and rain killed 19 people in the island's south in November last year.

Sri Lanka depends on monsoon rains for irrigation and power generation, but the seasonal downpours frequently cause death and property damage.

Lawyers Urge The Government To Cease Attack On Judiciary: Urge Public To Standby CJ and the JSC

By Colombo Telegraph -October 29, 2012 

“We consider it as an attack on the independence of the Judiciary and on the Rule of Law. Having regard to the importance of the independence of the Judiciary we unreservedly call upon the government to cease this onslaught on the Judiciary.” says Lawyers for Democracy(LfD).

Chief Justice Bandaranayake

Issuing a statement LfD Convener, Lal Wijenayakasays “we further express our fullest confidence in theChief Justice and the JSC and the Judiciary in general. We hope that the public will stand by the Judiciary at this hour of need. We urge that all public conscience citizens to come forward to protect the last bastion of Democracy and Justice.”

We reproduce LfD statement in full;

The Lawyers’ for Democracy are concerned about the ongoing unprecedented mudslinging campaign and all forms of attacks against the Judiciary. This has far reaching and repercussions on the rule of law.

We are shocked to hear of the contents of the parliamentary debate where there were baseless attacks on the JSC and we are further disturbed at the fact that the parliament has been mislead on the appointment of the Secretary of the JSC.
There is a general apprehension that an impeachment motion is being contemplated targeting the Chief Justice with a view to intimidating her on her judicial pronouncements.

We consider it as an attack on the independence of the Judiciary and on the Rule of Law. Having regard to the importance of the independence of the Judiciary we unreservedly call upon the government to cease this onslaught on the Judiciary.
We further express our fullest confidence in the Chief Justice and the JSC and the Judiciary in general. We hope that the public will stand by the Judiciary at this hour of need. We urge that all public conscience citizens to come forward to protect the last bastion of Democracy and Justice.

*‘Lawyers of Democracy (LfD) is a representative body of legal practitioners throughout the island. Conveners include Lal Wijenayaka, Chandrapala Kumarage, K.S. Ratnavale, J.C. Weliamuna, Sudath Netthisinghe,  Sudarshana Gunawardana and Lakshan Dias. It was established on 10th December 2009.

lal.wijenayake@gmail.com- Tel-077-781 2010