Peace for the World

Peace for the World
First democratic leader of Justice the Godfather of the Sri Lankan Tamil Struggle: Honourable Samuel James Veluppillai Chelvanayakam

Thursday, December 6, 2012


Deporting Tamils: More UK complicity in torture

06 DECEMBER 2012
BY PHIL MILLER
The UK Border Agency have planned another deportation charter flight to Sri Lanka for this Thursday 6th December 2012 at 1600hrs.
Despite public controversy, these mass expulsions to Sri Lanka are actually becoming more frequent. There are now charter deportation flights from London to Colombo departing on an almost monthly basis. Since mid-2012, the Australian government have followed Britain’s example, with planes full of ‘failed’ Tamil asylum seekers taking off from Christmas Island. Media reports[1|2] claim that dozens of refugees deported from Australia in November where arrested on arrival in Sri Lanka.
'Killed and tortured'
Last month I asked Yasmin Sooka, who is a member of the UN Secretary-General’s Panel of Experts on Accountability in Sri Lanka, if she was concerned by the deportation of Tamils to Sri Lanka from Commonwealth States such as Britain and Australia. She responded, in a personal capacity, that these governments are “sending people back to be killed and tortured” [3].
Since December 2011, activists in London have attempted three times to physically block the buses which transfer Tamils from the detention centre to the deportation flight. Their actions have caused delays and given Barristers more time to get removal directions cancelled. Although these protests have resulted in 10 arrests, the Crown Prosecution Service have repeatedly dropped all charges, days before activists were due in court [4]. Is this to avoid further disclosure of the Government’s complicity in torture?
The British Ministry of Defence are still refusing to answer a Freedom of Information request [5] about whether Liam Fox’s fixer, Adam Werritty, visited Sri Lanka shortly before the deportation charter flights began in June 2011. A complaint to the Information Commissioner has been made.
The UK Border Agency Country of Origin Information Service (COIS) have admitted in response to a Freedom of Information request [6] that they do not know the identity of a source they cited in their July 2011 Country of Origin report on Sri Lanka. This ‘Colombo based human rights worker’ claimed it “was well known that many persons who were held in IDP camps at the end of the conflict scarred themselves so that on release they could make allegations that the Sri Lankan government had tortured them”.
And so the complicity and cover-up continues…

Notes:

[1] 32 Australian deportees arrested at BI | http://www.lankasrinews.com/view.php?2bAAlv4a2LfYce424mM0c22aAmB23d2PBAce0d6MAYce0eA5V0c23XO4d2

[2] Deported asylum seekers jailed | http://www.thesundayleader.lk/2012/11/08/deported-asylum-seekers-jailed/

[3] Towards truth, justice and a political solution in Sri Lanka: Session 2, response at 56:35 | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQ5SlVRclZo

[4] For example, see Bindman’s press release: Case discontinued in protest against Tamil deportation |http://www.bindmans.com/news-and-events/news-article/case-discontinued-in-protest-against-tamil-deportation

[5] Dr. Fox’s staff in Sri Lanka June 2011 | http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/dr_foxs_staff_in_sri_lanka_june#outgoing-232609

[6] Correspondence between UKBA COI Service and British HC in Colombo |http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/correspondence_between_ukba_coi#incoming-333296
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Government is using Pirabakaran's name to hide its crimes.


Government always tendering false accusations and  attempting to set ablaze racism in the country was alleged by Democratic People’s Front Leader Mano Ganeshan..
Until Tamils rights are granted, peace cannot be established in the north and east which he made it clear.
He queried whether government is once again introducing the arms culture by oppressing the struggles initiated by the Tamils within the democratic limits to obtain their rights.
If the southern people are granted their rights and if the northern people are deprived from their  rights, north and south will be separated was mentioned by him.
He further said, Chief Justice Prof.Shirani Bandaranayakae two days back while proceeding for the selective panel inquires to the parliament, Minister Mervyn Silva organized a massive crowd to protest against her.
Minister Mervyn Silva mentioned what Pirabakaran could not do at Kilinochi is attempting to do at Puthukadai with the support from diaspora Tamils by carrying out activities against the parliament.
These are totally false accusations. To hide its mistakes, government is alleging false accusations against Pirabakaran and diaspora Tamils. By acquiring the entire funds from the diaspora Tamils, and government is functioning by keeping them with the government.
By stamping Pirabakaran's name, is setting ablazing racism, are the attempts of the government, was further mentioned by him.
Thursday , 06 December 2012
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Sri Lanka intensifies terror campaign against Tamil students

TamilNet[TamilNet, Thursday, 06 December 2012, 14:20 GMT]
Genocidal Sri Lanka’s Criminal Investigation Department has officially informed the Vice Chancellor of the University of Jaffna to hand over 10 more students of the university, in addition to the three already in detention. The wanted list includes the leader of the student union, student leaders of the faculties and five students from the Medical Faculty. Meanwhile, following individual threats to the faculty Deans by the occupying SL military, the Dean of the Medical Faculty, along with some lecturers, attempt to take the five Medical Faculty students to the SL police. Colombo’s agents also pressurise the Medical Faculty to abandon the other faculties and to announce cancellation of the student protest through the Sinhala students admitted to the faculty. 

The Dean of the Medical Faculty and two lecturers demand the students to abandon their protest, news sources in Jaffna said.

The latest move by the ‘Terrorist Division’ of the SL police comes after the SL military’s search for the student activists in all the districts of the Northern Province, as the students have gone into hiding.

Student activists demand a guarantee from the university administration against the SL military and police subjecting them under ‘terrorism’ charges, for the democratic struggle waged by them.

Once arrested under ‘terrorism’ charges the genocidal government could keep the students indefinitely under detention and intimidate the future generations of Tamil students forever.

The entire viciousness of the genocidal state stems from the policies of the US-led West and India that continue to keep the ‘terrorism’ tag on the righteous struggle of Eezham Tamils, political observers in the island said.

The International Crisis Group (ICG) in its latest report on the island accused TamilNet for frequently criticising the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) “for moderation allegedly imposed by the Indian and US governments.”

The current realities have prompted even the TNA parliamentarians to call for international youth action to the edification of these governments.

Sections of Tamil media in the diaspora that never see dictates that come from the Western establishments, their groups and foundations, but worry only about ‘instructions’ that come from Tamil Nadu politicians say that the TNA is the mandated leadership of Tamils in the island. But after the university incidents, the TNA this week, in a united voice with other political forces and civil groups, have requested the youth of Tamil Nadu to come to help, political observers in the island said.

“The defeated Tamils should settle down with whatever that is given to them by Colombo” was a slogan hatched immediately after the war by the genocidal state and by its abetters. Last week, citing what had happened at the Jaffna University, TNA parliamentarian E. Saravanabhavan said he had no doubt that this is what would happen even when Tamils accept whatever that is given.

During the last week of October, at the Trincomalee campus of the Eastern University in the country of Eezham Tamils, the Sinhala students admitted there went to the extent of attacking and injuring fellow Tamil students allegedly over a missing Buddha poster pasted on the university bus.
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LOCAL EUROPEAN UNION (EU) STATEMENT ON THE RULE OF LAW IN SRI LANKA?



Colombo, 5 December 2012  
PRESS RELEASE 
LOCAL EUROPEAN UNION (EU) STATEMENT ON THE RULE OF 
LAW IN SRI LANKA
The European Union Delegation issues the following statement in agreement with the EU 
Heads of Mission in Sri Lanka: 
“The European Union Delegation in Colombo is concerned by a number of recent 
developments in Sri Lanka surrounding the rule of law and individual freedoms.  
The European Union looks to the Sri Lankan authorities to ensure that the independence of 
the judiciary is protected; that investigations into the large number of deaths at the Welikada 
prison are speedy and impartial; and that all citizens, including students, journalists and 
opposition politicians, are able to exercise their fundamental rights without impediment.  
The European Union Delegation notes that several other domestic and international actors 
have also expressed concerns, including the Commonwealth Secretary General, the UN 
Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers and the Asian Human Rights 
Commission.” 
END
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DOCUMENT - SRI LANKA: STUDENTS AT RISK OF TORTURE FOLLOWING MARCH

: 347/12 Index: ASA 37/014/2012 Sri Lanka Date: 4 December 2012
URGENT ACTION STUDENTS AT RISK OF TORTURE FOLLOWING MARCH Four students were arrested on 1 December in Jaffna, northern Sri Lanka, by the Terrorist Investigation Division (TID) of the police. They are being held in Vavuniya for interrogation and are at risk of torture. P. Tharshananth, Sanmugam Solaman, Kanesamoorthy Sutharsan and K. Jenemajeyamenan were arrested without warrants in Jaffna. It is not known if they have been formally charged. Sri Lankan media reports that they are being questioned about their alleged involvement in a petrol bomb attack on the office of a local political organisation, as well as their involvement in organising demonstrations. There are concerns for their well-being given evidence of the persistent use of torture in TID custody.
Their arrests come after several days of student protests following efforts by the security forces to suppress peaceful commemorations of Maaveerar Naal (Heroes Day), a day of remembrance established by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). On 27 November security forces broke up a lamp lighting ceremony at the women’s hostel at Jaffna University, reportedly breaking lamps, threatening students and pointing weapons at them. The following day students responded with a silent protest and short march and held placards denouncing the restrictions on freedom of expression. At least 20 undergraduates were injured and beaten by riot police and officers in civilian dress, including Sanmugam Solaman. Security forces allege that the students had thrown stones at them, prompting them to react; university staff told local media that the event was peaceful until the authorities attacked the marchers.
Please write immediately in English or your own language: ν Expressing concern for the safety and wellbeing of the four students (naming them); ν Calling on the Sri Lankan authorities to release them from custody or charge them with a recognizeable criminal offense and to try them promptly in a regularly consituted court with all internationally recognized safeguards provided; ν Urging them to ensure that the detainees are treated in accordance with international standards while in police custody, specifically urging that they are not tortured and are given full access to their lawyers, families, food, blankets and medical care where necessary; ν Calling on the Sri Lankan authorities to end restrictions on freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly; ν Urging them to halt attacks on religious gatherings and other commemorative activities, and bring to justice those who carry out such attacks.
PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 15 JANUARY 2013 TO: Inspector General of Police N K Illangakoon New Secretariat, Colombo 1 Sri Lanka Fax: +94 11 244 0440 Email: igp@police.lk Salutation: Dear Inspector General
Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa Ministry of Defence and Urban Development 15/5, Baladaksha Mawatha, Colombo 03, Sri Lanka Fax: +94 11 254 1529 Email: secdef@sltnet.lk Salutation: Dear Defence Secretary
And copies to Secretary Sri Lanka Human Rights Commission: No. 108 Barnes Place Colombo 07, Sri Lanka Fax: +94 11 268 9558 Email: sechrc@sltnet.lk
Also send copies to diplomatic representatives accredited to your country. Please check with your section office if sending appeals after the above date.
URGENT ACTION STUDENTS AT RISK OF TORTURE FOLLOWING MARCH
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION There have been a series of violent attacks on student activists in Jaffna, as well as efforts to prevent students from organizing. In October 2011 Subramaniam Thavapalasingham, President of the Jaffna University Students’ Union was attacked by unidentified assailants wielding iron bars who accused him of supporting Tamil separatism; he blamed Sri Lankan military intelligence for the attack. In May 2012, P. Tharshananth was attacked in a similar way and was very badly beaten shortly before he was to address a remembrance event commemorating victims of the armed conflict that ended three years earlier.
Since the armed conflict between the Sri Lankan armed forces and the LTTE ended in May 2009, the Sri Lankan authorities have placed tight restrictions on events and religious observances held to commemorate and mourn war victims, particularly those held around 27 November, the LTTE’s ‘Heroes Day’ which had been established to commemorate cadres killed during Sri Lanka’s armed conflict and which falls on the day after late LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran’s birthday. 27 November 2012 also coincided with the Hindu festival Karthikai Deepam, which involves the lighting of oil lamps, and the army reportedly prevented many Jaffna residents from lighting lamps to celebrate the festival.
P. Tharshananth is Secretary of the Jaffna University Students' Union; Sanmugam Solaman is a Science Faculty Student Union member; Kanesamoorthy Sutharsan is a medical student, and K. Jenemajeyamenan is President of the Arts Faculty Student Union.
Names: P. Tharshananth; Sanmugam Solaman; Kanesamoorthy Sutharsan; K. Jenemajeyamenan. Gender m/f: m
UA: 347/12 Index: ASA 37/014/2012 Issue Date: 4 December 2012
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Ethnic Hatred Tears Apart a Region of Myanmar


நிமலரூபனின் உயிரும் இன்றில்லை உடலும் இனியில்லை- பௌத்தம் மீண்டும் ஒருமுறை வெட்கித் தலைகுனிந்தது -குரு 

Ethnic Hatred Tears Apart a Region of Myanmar

By Published: November 29, 2012
New York TimesSITTWE, Myanmar — The Buddhist monastery on the edge of this seaside town is a picture of tranquillity, with novice monks in saffron robes finding shade under a towering tree and their teacher, U Nyarna, greeting a visitor in a sunlit prayer room.

By Poypiti Amatatham
Religious Tensions in Myanmar: In western Myanmar, Muslims and Buddhists clash.

But in these placid surroundings Mr. Nyarna’s message is discordant, and a far cry from the Buddhist precept of avoiding harm to living creatures. Unprompted, Mr. Nyarna launches into a rant against Muslims, calling them invaders, unwanted guests and “vipers in our laps.”
“According to Buddhist teachings we should not kill,” Mr. Nyarna said. “But when we feel threatened we cannot be saints.”
Violence here in Rakhine State — where clashes have left at least 167 people dead and 100,000 people homeless, most of them Muslims — has set off an exodus that some human rights groups condemn as ethnic cleansing. It is a measure of the deep intolerance that pervades the state, a strip of land along the Bay of Bengal in western Myanmar, that Buddhist religious leaders like Mr. Nyarna, who is the head of an association of young monks, are participating in the campaign to oust Muslims from the country, which only recently began a transition to democracy from authoritarian rule.
After a series of deadly rampages and arson attacks over the past five months, Buddhists are calling for Muslims who cannot prove three generations of legal residence — a large part of the nearly one million Muslims from the state — to be put into camps and sent to any country willing to take them. Hatred between Muslims and Buddhists that was kept in check during five decades of military rule has been virtually unrestrained in recent months.
Even the country’s leading liberal voice and defender of the downtrodden, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, has been circumspect in her comments about the violence. President Obama made the issue a priority during his visit to the country this month — the first by a sitting American president — and Muslim nations as diverse as Indonesia and Saudi Arabia have expressed alarm.
Buddhists and Muslims in western Myanmar have had an uneasy coexistence for decades, and in some areas for centuries, but the thin threads that held together the social fabric of Rakhine State have torn apart this year.
Muslims who fled their homes now live in slumlike encampments that are short on food and medical care, surrounded by a Buddhist population that does not want them as neighbors.
“This issue must be solved urgently,” said U Shwe Maung, a Muslim member of Parliament. “When there is no food or shelter, people will die.”
Conditions have become so treacherous for Muslims across the state that Mr. Shwe Maung travels with a security force provided by the government. “They give me a full truck of police,” he said. “Two, three or four policemen is not enough.”
Leaders of the Buddhist majority in the state say they feel threatened by what they say is the swelling Muslim population from high birthrates and by Islamic rituals they find offensive, like the slaughter of animals.
“We are very fearful of Islamicization,” said U Oo Hla Saw, general secretary of the Rakhine Nationalities Development Party, the largest party in the state. “This is our native land; it’s the land of our ancestors.”
During outbreaks of sectarian violence in June and again in October, villagers armed themselves with swords, clubs and sharpened bicycle spokes that they launched from homemade catapults. In Muslim-majority areas, monasteries were burned. In Buddhist-majority areas, mosques were destroyed. The mayhem was set off by the rape and murder of a Buddhist girl for which Muslims were blamed.
The center of Sittwe, a former British colonial outpost, is now empty of the Muslims who once worked in large numbers as stevedores and at other manual jobs.
“I’m scared to go back,” said Aye Tun Sein, who was a teacher at a government school before the upheaval. In his village, Teh Chaung East, a 20 minute drive from Sittwe, he said that no one has a job because no one can leave the village, a collection of shacks and tents.
Political leaders describe the near total segregation of Muslims as temporary, but it appears to be more and more permanent.
“I don’t miss them,” said U Win Maung, a bicycle rickshaw driver whose house was burned down in June by his Muslim neighbors. “The hatred we have for each other is growing day by day.”
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Cancellation of MR's visit not due to pressure

THURSDAY, 06 DECEMBER 2012 
Despite protests by Indian groups against the planned visit of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa to Malaysia, its High Commission in Kuala Lumpur confirmed the cancellation was not due to political pressure.

Leaders from the Indian community, who are largely of Tamil ethnicity, had expressed disapproval of Rajapaksa’s role in the Sri Lankan civil war. His brother, Lt-Col Nandasena Gotabaya Rajapaksa, is also the country's defence secretary.

Rajapaksa was due to attend the World Islamic Economic Forum (WIEF) in Johor Baru from Tuesday to today.

Sri Lankan acting High Commissioner Maj-Gen S.W. Lalith Daulagala told The Malay Mail, the president had cancelled the visit as he went to visit ailing Prime Minister D.M. Jayaratne, who was receiving treatment at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, United States.

“The president had initially declined the offer in January and later agreed when persuaded by a Malaysian VIP who met him during a business meeting in Sri Lanka.

“The president was on his visit to Kazakhstan when we were informed that his plans to visit Malaysia was cancelled due to unavoidable circumstances. He had decided to visit his prime minister in the US. He informed us of the cancellation on Nov 23, which was days before the uproar here,” said Lalith Daulagala.

Rajapaksa has been blamed for allegedly orchestrating the massacre of Tamil civilians and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) fighters, also known as the Tamil Tigers.

The Sri Lankan government defeated the Tamil Tigers in 2009 after a 26-year war against the separatist movement which wanted to create an independent Tamil state in the north and east of the country.

Last month’s Report of the Secretary-General’s Internal Review Panel on United Nations Action in Sri Lanka reported the estimated number of civilian deaths could have been as many as 40,000 between 2006 and 2009. (Source: The malay Mai

The report also said “sources” had indicated that over 70,000 people were unaccounted for. (Source: The Malay mail)
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Sri Lanka: Crouching Buffalos, Hidden Dragon

by Rajeev Sharma

Mahinda Rajapaksa and family members may get 1.2 -1.8 billion US dollars as commissions for chinese projects during 2005-2015

( December 5, 2012, New Delhi, Sri Lanka Guardian) The Dragon’s shadow is lengthening over Sri Lanka with every passing day. China has committed since 2005 contracts and investments worth US$ 6.4 billion, as per treasury records. So far, $ 3.6 billion has been disbursed. Projects worth $ 2.8 billion are waiting to be signed. In another three years, the Chinese investment in Sri Lanka will nearly double and touch $ 12 billion.

Sri Lanka GuardianIs Mahinda Rajapaksa, the sixth president of Sri Lanka, lily white like the shining white dress he wears in public? The answer is a resounding no for a wide variety of things and facts that are surfacing as he entered the seventh year of his presidency.

Rajapaksa, who began his life by testing his luck in the tinsel world as an extra and clambered the political ladder with ruthless ease, is not a man of the masses as he presents himself with an earthy brown shawl to remind his interlocutors of his rural roots. His family rule puts to shame the Sukarnos, Bhuttos, Burnhams and Mugabes of the world.

Let the facts speak

The Dragon’s shadow is lengthening over Sri Lanka with every passing day. China has committed since 2005, as per treasury records, contracts and investments worth US$ 6.4 billion. So far, $ 3.6 billion has been disbursed; projects worth $ 2.8 billion are waiting to be signed. In another three years, the Chinese investment in Sri Lanka will nearly double and touch $ 12 billion.

As the African experience with Bamboo capitalism shows, China’s investment is not benign but is aimed at cornering raw materials, markets and profits. It is also routed through middlemen to reduce risks.

The First Family

In Sri Lanka context, the gateway appears to be a close family friend of the Rajapaksas. And the friend has the word ‘gateway’ in the name of his very company. Like in Africa, here also, commissions are paid to agents and front companies and these are really hefty probably because of the competition the Chinese are facing in grabbing local business. Available data shows that the First Family (FF) stands to receive in commission anywhere between US$1.2 to US$ 1.8 billion during 2005-15. It works out to an annual ‘intake’ of $120 to US$ 180 million from the Chinese projects. An intricate web of front companies is in place to receive and disburse the commissions, as is the practice with the Chinese.

The Chinese generally walk the extra mile to cover the tracks leading to the real beneficiary. But they have slipped up badly in their Colombo enterprise. So milestones along the way are clearly visible.

Names of two businessmen figure prominently in the shady business deals of the First Family. One of them, Bandula Weerawardena, Sri Lanka born British passport holder-businessman, is more or less history, as he gave way to the new star, Prabath Nanayakkara, the Chairman of Sri Lanka Gateway Industries.

A little known businessman, Prabath’s meteoric rise ran parallel to President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s ascent to power. The sobriquet of FF insider has helped him bag massive construction contracts and licenses for TV and other media network. Prabath’s mainstay is said to be Dilshan Wickremasinghe (38). He is the son of the President’s brother-in-law, Nishantha Wickremasinghe, who is also the Chairman of Sri Lankan Airlines. Dilshan is CEO of Asset Networks (Pvt) Ltd and Asset International, both subsidies of Prabath’s Asst Holdings Pvt Ltd.

Chinese Projects

Chinese funded projects are mostly handled by five companies, and the FF hand is behind all of them, according to local business circles, though they are economical on details. The FF is said to be pumping in four billion US dollars into Trincomalee, where decks are cleared for setting up a deep water jetty, bulk commodities terminal, and power plant amongst other facilities as a composite venture on develop, operate and manage basis.

Like in all other FF involvements, in Trinco deal also, Prabath signed the agreement with Board of Investment (BOI) on June 13, 2012. His Asset Holdings Pvt. Ltd is a partner in the Mitchell Consortium of Australia which had won a contract for setting up a heavy Industry Zone in Sampur.

Spread over 1200 acres, the project will see an investment of US $ 2 bn. It will be completed in three phases and the first phase would come up at a cost of US $ 700 million. The Rajapaksa cabinet approved the project on 23 February 2011.

The Mitchell consortium comprises four companies – Mitchell Group of Australia, Salva Corporation (mining services), Asset Holdings Pvt. Ltd (of Prabath Nanayakkara) and an unnamed Brazilian partner. Inquiries show that Mitchell Group could be a paper company acting as front for Prabath.

If so, could it be a case of rerouting of ‘money’ earned by the FF in the Chinese projects with Prabath acting as the Front Man of an Illegal Empire? Could it be a case of creating a long lasting vote bank in the South? All questions with no ready answers. Only a deep probe can ferret out the truth.

Bandula Weerawardena

Prabath’s association with the FF pre-dates Dilshan’s involvement with Asset Networks (Pvt) Ltd and Asset International, in a manner of speaking. It began in 2005 when Bandula Weerawardena, who was then the sole liaison man for Chinese investors, switched his allegiance from President Chandrika Kumaratunga to Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Bandula’s dealings as local agent for the Chinese companies were carried through his Bahama based Celweera Trading Limited. The scene changed by end 2006. Mahinda Rajapaksa became the President and his family set up several front companies to deal with the Chinese investors.

The FF ventures soon took over Bandula’s Chinese liaison work and sole agency work to his dismay though he had funded liberally Rajapaksa’s bid for presidency. He has either been replaced or his role is drastically reduced in the process; he is still around though; he shuttles between Communist China and Colombo, and spends time mostly in China.

When and how Prabath entered the scene is shrouded in mystery. He appears to have started his association with the FF in partnership with Bandula himself. And the decline of Bandula heralded the growth of Prabath Empire. `Till five-six years back, Prabath Nanayakkara, mainly owned and ran the hereditary ‘Mount Jean Tea Plantation’, which employees about 200 workers. Today, it is difficult to estimate the exact worth of his business empire.

Prabath and Dilshan’s hand has become omnipresent with several projects that span the entire spectrum from highways to expressways and from roads and bridges to buildings.

Metallurgical Construction Co. (MCC), China Harbour Engg Co. (CHEC), Sinohydro Corp, China National Machinery & Equipment (CMEC), and China Huanqiu Contracting & Engineering Corporation (HQCEC) are the main Chinese players in Sri Lanka. These companies are doing virtually all the Chinese funded projects in the countries. Prabath’s Asset Holdings is representing them though it is said that the tie-up with CMEC isn’t exclusive.

The Commission

As local agent, its commission depends on the value of the project negotiated. Generally, it is said to be range between 10 and 15 percent of the contract value. Sometimes, it can be a little more depending upon the circumstances of the deal like, for instance, competition.

· CHEC and Sinohydro has implemented the first phase of US$ 360 million Hambantota port; both are in talks to take up the second stage worth US$ 1.0 billion plus.

· CHEC is also implementing Hambantota International airport; it executed a part of Southern Expressway at a cost of US$ 200 million.

· Sinohydro is mostly into road projects. It recently bagged US$ 252 million Moragahakanda Reservoir project.

· CMEC is setting up coal fired Norochcholai project to generate 900 MW. The project cost: US$1.5 billion.

· HQCEC executed Hambantota Bunkering& Tank Farm project (US$ 76.5 million) and is negotiating modernization and expansion of Sapugaskanda refinery (US$2.0 billion).

The Lankan Tilt for China

It will be patently unfair to say that the tilt towards Beijing is a Rajapaksa innovation to win the Wanni War. The credit for taking Sri Lanka into China’s fold goes to Chandrika’s mother, Sirimao Bandaranayke, while her predecessor, JR Jayewardene, opened the windows to Pakistan.

Under Rajapaksas the ties with Beijing and Islamabad have become deepened and widened. Yes, he has personally ensured the successful sailing of several Chinese projects, while letting the Pakistani leaders put their money in the Lankan bourses.

Informed observers say that the commissions to the FF would be much more than US $ 120 to 180 million per year projected at the outset in this article. The projection factors in only pure vanilla commission through Chinese projects alone, according to them.

So what would be the real ‘intake’? It would be anywhere between US $ 400 and $ 500 million per year, say the knowledgeable.

( The writer has been in journalism since early 1982.Currently, he is writing for Diplomatic Courier, Washington; Asia Pacific Journal: Japan Focus, New York; Asahi Shimbun, Japan (English edition); The Diplomat magazine, Tokyo; openDemocracy, London; Strategic Affairs magazine, New Delhi; Power Politics magazine, New Delhi; Sakaal Times, Pune. Besides writing a weekly column for the Sakaal Times edit page, he IS also an editorial writer for the English daily.He IS also a columnist for Indian think tanks like South Asia Analysis Group (SAAG), Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA) and Centre for Land Warfare Studies (CLAWS). He is author of several books including" Beyond the Tigers: Tracking Rajiv Gandhi’s Assassination (Kaveri Books, New Delhi, 1998) and Pak Proxy War: A Story of ISI, Bin Laden and Kargil. He can be reached at bhootnath004@yahoo.com ')
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Short-Circuiting The Impeachment Process Under Consideration

By Colombo Telegraph -December 6, 2012 
Colombo TelegraphRealizing that the Select Committee process would be longer than expected, the Mahinda Rajapaksa Government is contemplating short-circuiting the process. According to reliable sources, the Government is now thinking of advising its members in the PSC to submit a report to Parliament on 08 December on only one or two of the 14 allegations made in the impeachment motion. The majority would say in the report that those one or two charges have been proved and that there is no need to go into all the 14 charges.
Asoka de Silva
Colombo Telegraph also understands that the Government is worried that the PSC’s majority report will be seen as a hurried job. Therefore, the President will request three retired judges of the Supreme Court to consider the report and advise him as to what should be done. The three retired judges will be persons who are certain to give a report unfavourable to the Chief Justice. Former Chief JusticeAsoka De Silva has been entrusted with the job of getting three “safe” judges for this exercise. The three retired judges would then advise the President that the PSC report is a “sound” report.
The plan is to submit a short report on one or two charges on 08 December and pass the impeachment motion on 08 January after the one month period required by the Constitution. However, senior SLFP-ers are said to be concerned about the proposal. They have pointed out that such a hasty end to the process would lead to loss of credibility both within the country and internationally.
Related posts;
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Priyadharshana Yapa's not so 'dear' exploits

THURSDAY, 06 DECEMBER 2012logo
A large number of frauds and corruption that exist in the Ministry of Environment are being exposed by the internal sources of the ministry.
It is reported that the Minister of Environment Anura Priaydharshana Yapa has given a directive that violates human rights. Recently an interview had been held to appoint an engineer to the Geological Survey and Mines Bureau (GSMB). At the interview Mr. Janatha Udaya Kumara, who is the most experienced and qualified engineer in the field, was selected but on a direct order from the Minister the appointment was not given.
Mr. Udaya Kumara had been serving in this position earlier but had left to have further education abroad and had been selected after he applied for the post once he returned to the island.
Legal experts as well as heads of the sector say the  foul order of the minister not only violates fundamental rights of the applicant who was selected but that of the whole citizens of the country who would be denied the benefits of his services. Also, the Minister, on his direct orders, arbitrarily recruits employees to all institutions under his ministry and all these employees are recruited from people at Pannala and adjacent areas say sources in the ministry.
These sources say the recent example of the Minister making illegal arbitrary recruits is the recruitment of officers for Marine Environment Protection Authority. Applications had been called from all offices of the Authority. When officials were taking steps to call applicants for interviews the Minister had ordered them to call applicants only from Kurunegala district.
As such, only applicants from Kuruneagala district were interviewed. However, the Minister had later sent a list of his own to be recruited.
It is stated that a large number of youths from Pannala, Katugampola, Giriulla in Kurunegala District have been recruited as drivers for the Geological Survey and Mines Bureau and according to sources there is a surplus of drives in the Bureau.
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