Sri Lanka army says probe on war continuing

Colombo, Nov. 5 (Xinhua-ANI): The Sri Lanka army on Monday said that military investigations into some alleged incidents which had reportedly taken place during the war with the Tamil Tiger rebels are still being investigated.

Army spokesman Ruwan Wanigasooriya told Xinhua that a Court Of Inquiry (COI) is continuing to record statements from witnesses and others.

The five-member Court of Inquiry was appointed in January based on the recommendations of a local war commission known as the Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC).

Sri Lanka's former Attorney General Mohan Peiris said last week that the army court has had 50 sittings so far in its probe on allegations of human rights abuses committed by the military during the war.

Peiris, who is an adviser to the Cabinet, said that the army court of inquiry had also recorded statements from 30 witnesses.

He also said that the mandate of the army court of inquiry is wide and will cover some issues raised in a controversial British television video.

The British television channel had released several videos following the war in Sri Lanka showing alleged atrocities committed by the army.

The Sri Lankan military defeated the rebels in May 2009 after 30 years of bitter fighting. However the Sri Lankan government continues to face allegations of committing war crimes during the conflict.

The army court of inquiry is an initial fact-finding inquiry and if there is evidence to file a case a General Court Martial will be convened to try the alleged offenders, the army said. (Xinhua-ANI)

From UN,  Sri Lanka Shavendra Silva to Leave After Controversy, to South Africa

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, November 5, updated -- Sri Lankan Major General Shavendra Silva, the source of controversy when appointed as Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN then to Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's Senior Advisory Group of Peacekeeping Operations, will now be leaving New York for South Africa.

  Since Silva's forces are depicted as engaged in war crimes in the UN's own report on killings in Sri Lanka, his appearance as the Asia Group's representative on the SAG set off a chain of events, starting with repudiation of Silva by some major Permanent Representatives in the Asia Group.

  Several of them told Inner City Press they had no idea who Shavendra Silva was, and did not support him.

  Even then, Ban Ki-moon did not speak or act on having Silva advising him on Peacekeeping. Then after some arm twisting, the issue was recast as the right of the Asia Groupto send whomever it wanted. But had it wanted Silva? The answer seems clearly at have been no.

  But still nothing from Ban Ki-moon. Inner City Press asked Ban's head of Peacekeeping Herve Ladsous and he tellingly refused to even answer the question.

   Inner City Press sought to cover the SAG meetings, which were moved out of the UN to rented buildings on Madison Avenue then Third Avenue. The UN made it nearlyimpossible to cover the meetings. Still, Inner City Press shot some video: click here for Silva's February 22, 2012, exit from 380 Madison Avenue.

  It was said that while Silva could attend, he couldn't speak. This was not fully tested, as Silva began to be out of town when the SAG met. 

  Most recently Inner City Press was told by a Permanent Representative on the SAG that Silva's name might not be on the group's final report.  (It's said Silva will remain in New York for a couple months - is it for that purpose?)

  Inner City Press asked Ban's spokesperson's office to confirm this, but they wouldn't.

  Ironically, on October 31 Sri Lankan President MahindaRajapaksa publicly asked Deputy Shavendra Silva to "look for any Sri Lankans affected by Hurricane Sandy." One wag asked, and do what to them?

  Now days later comes the announcement that Shavendra Silva is being moved out, to South Africa, again as a Deputy.

Update: at Monday's UN noon briefing Inner City Press asked Ban's spokesman Martin Nesirky about the SAG report, and if Silva's name will be left off it because of the controversy surrounding his involvement in the SAG. Video here from Minute 30:45. Nesirky said, "I do not know at this stage, I'll let you know."
Watch this site.

Alleged War Criminals Appointed Again, Militarisation Of Diplomatic Service Continues

By Colombo Telegraph -November 5, 2012 

External Affairs Ministry G.L. Peiris has received Government approval for new diplomatic appointments where key serving Army officers are being posted to number two slots overseas, according to the  Sunday Times Sri Lanka. The newspaper said in terms of this, Major General Shavendra Silva will be Sri Lanka’s Deputy Ambassador in South Africa. He is currently Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York.

Major General Jagath Alwis will be the new Deputy Ambassador to Israel. Formerly in charge of the military component of Presidential Security, he is now Director General-General Staff (DGGS) at Army Headquarters.
Major General Kamal Gunaratne will be the new Deputy Ambassador to Brazil. The current Ambassador is former Police Chief Mahinda Balasuriya. Maj. Gen. Gunaratne is currently Adjutant General at Army Headquarters.

Major General Shavendra Silva, Major General Jagath Alwis and Major General Kamal Gunaratne were allegedly involved in war crimes according to several media reports.  Even after the war,  Army chief of staff division, Director General , Major Gen. Jagath Alwis was accused for carrying out white Van operations.

ICE justice means rewarding people connected to genocidal war

[TamilNet, Monday, 05 November 2012, 14:33 GMT]
Rajapaksa regime this week has approved new diplomatic appointments to generals conducted the genocidal war in the island. Conspicuously, they will be representing the regime in a new set of Establishments. People are usually named for such assignments not without prior consent by the concerned countries. Sri Lanka’s Major Generals, Shavendra Silva, Jagath Alwis and Kamal Gunaratne are named to go as Deputy Ambassadors respectively to South Africa, Israel and Brazil, media reports from Colombo said. Earlier the UN, some Western countries, Japan and Australia have received war-crimes-accused SL generals as diplomats. 

Meanwhile, people connected to the course of the genocidal war in the island are invariably rewarded in some or the other way by certain countries and by the International Community of Establishments (ICE), political observers commented.

They cited MK Narayanan going as governor, Shiv Shankar Menon becoming the NSA, Nirupama Menon Rao going as US ambassador after retirement and above all the former Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee who misled the world on the number of people in the killing field becoming the President of India.

The UNSG Ban Ki-Moon received his second term, Robert Blake continued as US Asst. Secretary of State from Bush Administration to Obama Administration, UK’s John Sawers became the head of MI6, and the latest is Erik Solheim getting named to lead development facilitation of a body of 24 leading developed countries, the political observers further cited.

The Rajapaksa regime getting shielded overtly or covertly by everyone, getting pampered diplomatically and getting bestowed with competitive monetary aid from all quarters are no secrets.

“One of the worst atrocity crime stories of recent decades has barely registered in the world’s collective conscience,” lamented ICG’s President Emeritus and Australia’s former foreign minister Gareth Evans, a few days ago.

“We remember and acknowledge the shame of Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia, and Darfur. We agonize about the failure to halt the atrocities being committed almost daily in Syria. But, at least until now, the world has paid almost no attention to war crimes and crimes against humanity comparable in their savagery to any of these: the killing fields of Sri Lanka in 2009,” he further said.

But the Establishments are fully conscious of the global significance of what they have ‘achieved’. Otherwise they would not pay this much of attention in rewarding the players, political observers commented.

Meanwhile, the genocide-affected nation of Eezham Tamils plunges further into structural genocide and into an invisible genocide, i.e., psychological genocide resulting from the denial of justice and commendation of the culprits. 

There are no signs at all that it is practical to expect justice to come from the existing nature of the Establishments unless there is a globally coordinated mass struggle and civil society movement.

For those who think ‘collaboration’ is practical, the fate of Pillaiyan, Karuna and the East should be an eye-opener, civil activists in the island commented.

But certain Western diplomatic circles in Colombo are engaged in a campaign nowadays that challenging or creating awareness on the ‘illogical justice’ of the International Community of Establishments is an ‘impractical’ approach on the part of Eezham Tamils, the civil activists further commented.

Sri Lanka army probing war crime allegations

Colombo: The Sri Lankan Army said on Monday it was still investigating allegations of atrocities during the war against the Tamil Tigers that ended in 2009.

According to army spokesperson Ruwan Wanigasooriya, a court of inquiry was on to record statements from witnesses and others, Xinhua reported.

A five-member probe was appointed in January based on the recommendations of a war commission known as the Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC).

Sri Lanka's former attorney general Mohan Peiris said last week that the army court has had 50 sittings on allegations of rights abuses by soldiers during the war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

(Continued)                                                 12

Sri Lanka army probing war crime allegations

Colombo: The Sri Lankan Army said on Monday it was still investigating allegations of atrocities during the war against the Tamil Tigers that ended in 2009.

Critics accuse the government of overlooking the wanton killings of civilians, mostly Tamils, during the end stages of the war that led to the destruction of the LTTE in May 2009. Colombo denies the charge.

Peiris, an adviser to the Sri Lankan cabinet, said the mandate of the army inquiry was wide and would cover some of the issues raised in a controversial British television video.

The British channel had released several videos of the war showing what it said were 'atrocities' by the Sri Lankan army.

If there was evidence to file a case, a court martial would be convened to try the alleged offenders, the army said.

Shirani Bandaranayake: Protest over bid to impeach judge

The protest in Colombo drew hundreds of opposition lawmakers and rights activists

Hundreds of Sri Lankans have marched in the capital, Colombo, in protest at the government's bid to impeach Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake.

Last week authorities said the chief justice had "affected the sovereignty of the people", without elaborating.

Critics say the move is evidence of the ruling party's attempt to stifle the courts' independence.

The government is due to announce on Tuesday whether it will press ahead with the impeachment process.

A parliamentary motion to impeach Ms Bandaranayake - appointed Sri Lanka's first female top judge in 2011 - was submitted last Thursday.

Impeachment is the only constitutional way to remove a sitting chief justice.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa's UPFA party has enough seats for the move to succeed, but the process could take months.

The initial proposal has received the approval of the required number of lawmakers, with nearly 120 MPs from the government side signing the motion.

'Threat to democracy'

A large crowd gathered outside the Supreme Court on Monday, denouncing what they see as Mr Rajapaksa's intention to cut the judiciary down to size, the BBC's Charles Haviland, in Colombo, reports.

The demonstrators, including many lawyers and opposition MPs, shouted slogans and displayed banners reading "hands off the judiciary".

"We have to protest, we can't be silent anymore because of this threat to our democracy," university lecturer Chandragupta Thenuwara said.

Last month, a judge was assaulted by a gang in Colombo after publicly saying that the government was putting direct pressure on the judiciary.

Protesters were accusing the government of protecting the assailants, our correspondent reports.

An opposition MP, Eran Wickramaratne, said the impeachment bid was evidence that the country was increasingly becoming a "constitutional dictatorship".

Observers say Ms Bandaranayake recently came under fire after delaying passage of a key bill, which will place previously devolved development funds under the minister of economic development, who is also one of the president's brothers.

In another controversial decision, the Supreme Court ruled that a bill proposing the transfer of vital powers held by Sri Lanka's provinces back to the central government needed prior approval from provincial councils.

The US has voiced its concern over the motion against Ms Bandaranayake and urged Sri Lanka to avoid any action that would interfere with the judicial process.

It said "serious human rights violations" including disappearances, torture, summary killings and threats to free expression persisted in Sri Lanka, despite the end to the bloody separatist war with Tamil Tiger rebels in 2009.

The government has categorically rejected such suggestions, describing them as "unfortunate".

Judging A Judge: Politics And Pitfalls In The Process

By Saliya Pieris -November 5, 2012 

Saliya Pieris

For the third time in 30 years, Members of Parliament have launched impeachment proceedings against a Chief Justice of Sri Lanka – setting the stage for a crucial struggle for the preservation of independence of the judiciary and the rule of law.

In many democratic countries impeachment of a judge is among the rarest of events reserved for the worst cases of misconduct or incapacity. Yet the fact that the process has been used thrice during the existence of the present Constitution raises questions about the how and when the impeachment process should be used, whether sufficient safeguards exist to prevent abuse of the process and whether the process can be safely left in the hands of politicians.

While similar provisions existed under the previous constitutions there are no known attempts to impeach a senior judge during that period. The first to be subjected to the impeachment process was Chief JusticeNeville Samarakoon who is still referred to in legal circles as a fearless and courageous judge. Chief Justice Samarakoon was appointed by President J.R. Jayewardene directly from the private Bar to the highest position in the judiciary and when it became apparent that he was not a pliable Chief Justice he was hauled up before Parliament, in respect of a speech he had made at a prize-giving ceremony, where he was critical over the treatment of judges.

That impeachment process failed when Chief Justice Samarakoon retired two years later, before the proceedings could be concluded. Subsequently the Parliamentary report cleared him of the charges.

Again in 2001, a resolution was handed over by Opposition MPs to the Speaker seeking the impeachment of Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva. A Supreme Court bench issued a stay order on Speaker Anura Bandaranaike restraining him from appointing the Select Committee.

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UPR Sri Lanka 2012: Recommendations Sri Lanka accepted (Lanka-e-News -05.Nov.2012, 11.30PM) The Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), established in accordance with Human Rights Council resolution 5/1 of 18 June 2007, held its fourteenth session from 22 October to 5 November 2012. The review of Sri Lanka was held at the 16th meeting on 1 November 2012. The delegation of Sri Lanka was headed by Mahinda Samarasinghe, Minister of Plantation Industries and Special Envoy of the President for Human Rights. At its 18th meeting held on 5 November 2012, the Working Group adopted the report on Sri Lanka  128. The recommendations formulated during the interactive dialogue/listed below enjoy the support of Sri Lanka -------------------------------------------------- 128.1. Consider ratifying the CRPD (Egypt, Turkey); 128.2 Consider ratifying the Palermo Protocol on human trafficking (Philippines); 128.3 Make further efforts to ratify other relevant international instruments that are vital to the promotion and protection of Human Rights, in keeping with its national capacity and priority (Cambodia); 128.4 Continue giving consideration to ratify the other remaining (human rights) instruments in a progressive manner (Kenya); 128.5 Full dissemination of the NAPHR and the strengthening of governmental agencies at national, provincial and local level to guarantee its full implementation (Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)); 128.6 Accelerate capacity building in order to effectively implement the NAPHR (Zimbabwe); 128.7 Continue efforts to implement the National Action Plan for the protection and promotion and human rights (Bahrain);  More >>

Many Shades of Accountability: The UN and Sri Lanka

Many Shades of Accountability: The UN and Sri Lanka

Groundviews 

Photo courtesy United Nations

In the last stages of the war in Sri Lanka tens of thousands of civilians were killed and no one has been held to account to date. This article though is not about the accountability of the Government of Sri Lanka(GoSL) for the killings. Hundreds, if not thousands, have already discussed, written and produced documentaries demanding GoSL for action on this count.  The UN Secretary General’s Panel of Experts (PoE) put GoSL on the dock and recommended independent and credible investigations.

Though little has changed in Government’s position on the issue, ‘accountability’ has continued to remain a thorn and has forced the Rajapakses to steer away from the ludicrous defense of ‘zero casualty’, ‘gun in one hand and human rights charter in the next’ and other such denial theatrics. It has compelled the Government to appoint ‘Lessons Learnt Commission’ (LLRC) and Military inquiry panels to buy time and to hope that things will fade away. But war-crimes and crimes against humanity are serious business and they appear unlikely to go away from the agenda of the international community for some time to come.  Most importantly they will remain an issue in the country since those who were killed and those who killed are both Sri Lankans and the memories and evidence are hard to extinguish.

But there is another entity, whose acts and omissions let these tens of thousands of civilians to be killed and hundreds of thousands be interned, which probably might go scot free. To recap, since the time of the war the conduct of UN in Sri Lanka has been under criticism for failing to live up to its protection mandate and to ensure upholding of humanitarian principles, of which it is the custodian. For many of the affected people, UN became an irrelevant actor at best and complicit one at worst during a crucial time when they were most vulnerable – be it in the war zone when they were held as human shields by LTTE or when they were fired and strafed upon by the Sri Lankan army, navy and air force or subsequently when they were processed through various check points and incarcerated in Menik Farm ‘welfare’ centers.

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Rajapaksa Govt.’s Arrogance Likely To Boomerang Next March 

• Focus on CJ’s impeachment locally and internationally-Monday, November 05, 2012
• Firm statements on SL by US and India in Geneva

The arrogance exhibited by the Mahinda Rajapaksa government in presenting an impeachment motion against Chief Justice Dr. Shirani Bandaranayake on the day Sri Lanka was being reviewed at the UN Human Rights Council’s (UNHRC) Universal Periodic Review (UPR) on human rights is likely to have adverse repercussions in months to follow.

Mahinda Rajapaksa, Manmohan Singh, Mahinda Samarasinghe and Eileen Chamberlain Donahoe

The impeachment motion came last week after statements were made by members of the government on abolishing the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, which deals with devolving power to the provinces. Talks of abolishing the 13th Amendment to the Constitution were in clear violation of the commitments undertaken by the Sri Lankan government at the last UPR in 2008. The government had made a voluntary commitment to effectively implement the 13th and 17th Amendments.
In moving towards abolishing the 13th Amendment, the Rajapaksa government would have had to first overcome the obstacle posed by neighboring India, the architect of that piece of legislation. Realizing India’s role during the UPR as a member of the troika that would be reviewing Sri Lanka, the Rajapaksa government decided to go slow on the whole idea of abolishing the 13th Amendment.
However, the government managed to outdo the whole abolition of the 13th Amendment drama by starting work on impeaching the Chief Justice. After weeks of speculation, it was on September 30th that the government put in motion the move to impeach the Chief Justice. The decision to sign the motion was made at a party leaders’ meeting of the governing party.   

                                                                Read More »

Purported Oil Hedging Deals: Nihal Sri Questions Attorney General

By Colombo Telegraph -November 5, 2012 

“By your submissions, you held out an unqualified assurance and guarantee, that you will most certainly succeed in the above foreign legal proceedings against the Government of Sri Lanka and the CPC, and that therefore no payments, whatsoever, would thereby have to be made from public funds to the Respondents Banks, under these illegal deals as admitted by you, and accordingly that you would also recover the costs, reckoned to be in the region of Rs. 150 Mn. incurred utilizing public funds, to defend these foreign legal proceedings, in retaining foreign Counsel and Experts, including costs incurred in overseas travel by you and other Counsel.” Nihal Sri Ameresekere has today written to Attorney General Palitha Fernando.

Nihal Sri Ameresekere

Public Interest Litigator Nihal Sri Ameresekere wrote “In addition, on 11.5.2010 you reiterated to the Supreme Court the averments in the Statement of Objections of the CPC, settled by you, in SC (FR) Application No. 404/2009, concurring with my stances taken in the said Application, that – ‘the said transactions are illegal, ultra-vires and/or unauthorized and that the Respondent Banks had misrepresented the true nature of the these transactions and that they are inter-alia null and void and/or unenforceable’. Does not such stance on your part demonstrate the reality that you did not want the truth and facts being disclosed to the public, whereas this involves colossal funds of the public ? “

Questioning the legal cost he wrote “Costs of defending foreign legal proceedings are not disclosed to the public, but based upon an answer given in Parliament by Minister of Petroleum Industries, Susil Premajayantha in August 2012, I reckon the same to be in the region of Rs. 500 Mn. Is this not indeed catastrophic, when compared to the fact that the Budget for the entire year’s operation of 2013 of the Attorney General Department is only Rs. 434 Mn., and Capital Expenditure of only Rs. 29.3 Mn., as per the Appropriation Bill 2012 ?”

We publish the letter in full below, alternatively you can read it here

BY COURIER

5^th November 2012

 URGENT / IMPORTANT

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 Lankan Editor Frederica Jansz Flees Sri Lanka; She Says ‘Finally I feel safe’

By Colombo Telegraph -

Finally I feel safe. My kids are safe. The pressure, the persecution has been intense. It was a nightmare. I am thankful I got out alive - alive - Jansz

Frederica Jansz, who was sacked from her post as Editor in Chief at The Sunday Leader in September this year is learnt to have left Sri Lanka together with her two sons having been granted refuge by a powerful nation currently pushing to hold the Sri Lankan government accountable for possible war crimes and other human right abuses including abuses of media freedoms and stifling the press.

Jansz was sacked in September this year when The Sunday Leader was purchased by the government who fronted a pro Rajapaksa stooge to conclude the sale in the form of Asanga Seneviratne.  The latter it is
learnt insisted Jansz not carry articles critical of the “First Family” and then orchestrated a frivolous police complaint against her, insisting she continued to publish copy that were according to Seneviratne, “malicious and slanderous” of President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his coterie of family holding government office.

In the backdrop of what has been described by international media organizations as an alarming trend in stifling freedom of expression and independent reportage, Frederica has left Sri Lanka after she came
under increasing pressure and continued persecution by the Rajapaksa dominated government.

Frederica now joins dozens of other journalists who have fled Sri Lanka since 2005 when Mahinda Rajapaksa took office as President.

Following her termination from the newspaper the new management at The Sunday Leader agreed to publish an apology to the all powerful Defense Secretary and brother to the President, Gotabaya Rajapaksa for having
published an article in July this year titled, ‘Gota Goes Berserk.’ In which article Rajapaksa was placed on record having used foul language on Jansz including threatening her with possible death.

Frederica had since her termination confided to close associates that she had been followed home twice by men on motorbikes as well as received a threatening phone call.  When Colombo Telegraph contacted and spoke briefly with Jansz and asked if she had made a police complaint she replied, “What is the point anymore? In Sri Lanka the police are impotent in these cases.”

Frederica was also facing further litigation initiated by Gotabaya Rajapaksa when in July this year following the article ‘ Gota Goes Berserk’ he revived a Contempt of Court action he filed in 2009 and had laid by following her giving evidence in the White Flag case.

Frederica, according to confidantes had said she had been warned by her lawyers that there were moves to possibly impound her passport at the next court hearing scheduled for later this month.  She was also facing a
jail term if the case was decided in favour of Rajapaksa.

Frederica and her young family have since been moved to a safe location under the auspices of a foreign government.

Speaking from her new abode she told Colombo Telegraph, “Finally I feel safe.  My kids are safe. The pressure, the persecution has been intense. It was a nightmare. I am thankful I got out alive.”

Jansz took over as Editor in Chief of The Sunday Leader following the assassination of her predecessorLasantha Wickrematunge who was murdered while driving to work on January 8, 2009.

India pushes for implementation of 13th Amendment

By Shamindra Ferdinando

November 3, 2012

India has reiterated its call for the implementation of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution and credible investigations into allegations as regards atrocities during the eelam war IV.

The Global Tamil Forum (GTF) appreciated India’s position at the 14th session of Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in Geneva on Thursday (Nov 1).

"We are encouraged by the Indian intervention at the UPR which clearly articulated serious issues including militarization, lack of political will to resolve the Tamil National Question and the lack of progress on accountability that Sri Lanka refuses to address post end of war," GTF spokesperson Suren Surendiran spokesperson told The Sunday Island yesterday.

While noting positive development with regard to resettlement of the internally displaced persons, rehabilitation of ex-LTTE personnel, de-mining and reconstruction, India urged GoSL to address remaining issues as regards rehabilitation and resettlement.

India reiterated its commitment to help GoSL to tackle these problems.

Recalling GoSL’s assurance to the previous UPR four year ago to implement the 13th Amendment and subsequent promises given to the international community, India emphasized the responsibility on the part of the GoSL to keep its pledge. India stressed the need to go beyond the 13th Amendment, while underscoring the importance of a speedy political solution to the national issue.

Noting that GoSL has announced PC polls for the Northern Province next year, India insisted that those living in that region should be given an opportunity to exercise their franchise as early as possible.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa early this year declared that Northern PC polls would be held in September 2013.

Commenting on accountability issues, India pushed Sri Lanka to implement the recommendations made by the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC), including investigations into human rights violations and incidents involving loss of civilian lives.

Tisaranee’s Censored And Uncensored Columns: Hell Hath No Fury….

By Tisaranee Gunasekara –November 4, 2012 

“Tyrant, why swell’st thou thus, of mischief vaunting? …..Lewd lies thy tongue contrives…. Falsehood thy wit approves…” Psalm 52 (Translated by Mary Sidney)

Hell hath no fury like the Rajapaksas thwarted.

All those who opposed the interests, whims and fancies of the Ruling Siblings in the past know the hellfire of their fury. Students, workers, Tamil civilians, Sinhala farmers, journalists, military personnel, Negambo fishermen and Colombo poor, all know that to resist the Rajapaksa-juggernaut is a career-destroying, life-eviscerating, and at times lethal, business.

Now it is the turn of the highest court in the land to experience, at first hand, this fundamental law of Rajapaksa rule: those who support the Siblings will thrive, even if they wallow in crime; those who oppose the Siblings will suffer, even if they commit no wrong.

When the Supreme Court refused to remove the constitutional roadblocks and give the Divineguma Bill a free pass, it incurred the wrath of the Siblings. Seeing in this mild expression of judicial independence a dangerous threat to their power project, the Siblings resorted to their customary slash-and-burn tactics, to clear their path of all constitutional and legal hurdles.

Lies and empty declarations are part of the repertoire of any politician; the Rajapaksas make use of these deceptive tactics more than most. When there was a public outcry against the 18^th Amendment, the regime solemnly promised not to implement it; once the public focus evaporated, the Amendment was pushed through via a politico-legal Blitzkrieg.

Similarly, for weeks the regime denied media reports of a plan to impeach the Chief Justice. When MinisterNimal Siripala de Silva was asked about an impeachment plan, he said “No, there is no such idea. These are reports by various media or hidden forces trying to set one against the other and destabilise the country by spreading rumours or publishing reports on websites. Attempts are made to create conflicts between the Executive, Legislature and the Judiciary” (The Sunday Times – 14.10.2012). The motion was probably being drafted, even as the Minister made his mealy-mouthed declaration.

Let’s face it; had the CJ been willing to violate the constitution on demand, there would have been no impeachment motion against her and no corruption charges against her husband. The only reason Pradeep Kariyawasam was charged was because his wife refused to do the bidding of the country’s ersatz royals. Had the CJ ignored the constitution and approved the Divineguma Bill, her husband could have misused every asset of the NSB, with total impunity.

The latest COPE Report highlights several ‘bad transactions’: the purchase of Sri Lankan shares by the Peoples Bank for Rs.1,137 million; Central Bank’s investment of US$15.6 million in Greek Bonds; IIFA accounts….. It does not require any supernatural foretelling capacity to know that none of the authors of these transactions will be charged before the law, so long as they do not cause the ire of the Rajapaksa kith and kin. Had the Chief Justice been willing to abide by the Rajapaksa dictats, she could have broken every law, in perfect freedom – and perhaps even been rewarded by an appreciative executive with some high national honour (Desha Bandu? Desha Manya?).

Just as Gen. Fonseka could have stolen anything and murdered anyone, without losing his rank, pension, or freedom, had he abided by the new First Commandment: ‘Thou shall have no other Leaders before Us; not the law or the constitution, not even your conscience; if you obey Us, you will prosper; if you do not, you will not’. Simple; easy to understand, but harder to obey for those who value the law, honour the constitution or just cling to common-or-garden decency.

So how will this tale end?                                                                  Read More