Thursday, December 27, 2012

SRI LANKA: How predictions can turn out to be wrong

Basil Fernando-December 27, 2012

When the impeachment proposal was announced, the immediate reaction of many was that the outcome was pre-determined as the government has a two thirds majority in Parliament (acquired as this was even by foul means). It was therefore predicted that this would be the end of the matter. There will be rituals, like the PSC proceedings which were presumed to be artificial and then the beheading of CJ will take place, after government MPs raise their hands in favour of the impeachment. Thereafter the Supreme Court will not interpret the Constitution against the government.

These predictions however were proved wrong within a very short time. One simple issue came to the forefront of the debate concerning the principles relating to removal of the judges of the superior courts. In respect to this issue, near unanimity that the process leading to the easy removal of a judge was contrary to justice and equity emerged. Even the president, the chief mover of the impeachment declared that he had qualms of conscience on the matter.

One primary factor that was not predicted was the manner in which the courts reacted to the matter. On an earlier occasion when the late Anura Bandaranayake as the Speaker, refused to accept the summons issued by the Supreme Court in relation to a stay order on a motion of impeachment against Sarath Nanda Silva, the matter ended there. The same approach was adopted by the Speaker this time but the matter has not ended in that same way. Courts have claimed the right to have the last word on the matter. Thus the raising of hands in the parliament will not be the end of the matter. If the matters raised by the Chief Justice are proved in Court, the appeal court had said, it will declare any decision taken on the basis of PSC findings as null and void. Thus, there are many more episodes to this drama which may be more exciting than what was predicted initially.

Some say, that the government still has one more easy way to achieve its objective. That is by way of the assassination of the chief justice. Some websites have even published stories about alleged plots in that direction. It is alleged that some criminal serving long sentences are being mobilized. Given the past record of the government, there is reason not to disregard such stories as mere rumours. However, if this were happen, the consequences impacting on the government will be much worse than otherwise.

The fact that lawyers and judges rose to the occasion makes this attempted impeachment of the Chief Justice different to the attempted impeachment of Sarath Nanda Silva. Then, the legal community by and large wished to rid of him. It was the government that protected him.

What is even more impressive in the current context is the manner in which public opinion came to be formed in defense of the judiciary, even despite the fact that the people were unhappy about the way that the judiciary has performed in the past. It was clear that what the people were defending was not the incumbent Chief Justice but the judiciary itself. The fight changed from one between the government and Shirani Bandaranayake to a fight between the government and the people. Obviously the people had been waiting to confront the government and the government had provided them that opportunity. Despite all the rubbish that sycophants who act as journalists in the state media were propagating, many people cast aside their inhibitions to express their clear opposition to the repression that government was engaged in.

The way that the government members of the parliament raise their hands is not the most important aspect of this impeachment move. Deeper questions have been raised and the people have sought answers to the questions that they have managed to raise. There is a visible change in the culture of political silence that was prevailing after the accursed victory of J.R. Jawardence in 1977.

Perhaps Karl Popper was right when he wrote, “the future depends on ourselves, and we do not depend on historical necessity” (The Open Society and Its Enemies). Sri Lanka’s future need not necessarily be one under totalitarianism and we may find our way out of the shackles of the 1978 Constitution and the equally accursed 18th amendment.

The Opposition has a responsibility in representing us properly

Thursday, 27 December 2012

An open letter was jointly issued by the unions and others regarding 'The Opposition has a responsibility in representing us properly'.

See full letter below

20 December, 2012,

Colombo.

To all Opposition Members of Parliament, Provincial Councils and LG bodies,

The Opposition has a responsibility in representing us properly

“This is no era that allows for a conservative Opposition and a silent society.This is an era, all Citizens should consciously demand from the Opposition to represent citizens' rights.”

When the impeachment motion against the Chief Justice was handed over to the Speaker of the House, the Leader of the Opposition, who is also the leader of the UNP, held the parliament stands supreme and should be such on all issues. Not only the other opposition political parties, but also the government side, agreed on that. This regime uses that logic and the parliament to give them a Constitutional license and some decency in rule.

The UNP thus took umbrage, when the President entertained editors for a discussion on the impeachment, along with government Members in the Parliamentary Select Committee. Issuing a lengthy statement the UNP claimed the Editors should have walked away from that discussion. They held, the government should adhere to Commonwealth standards in parliamentary conduct. For the UNP, the parliament is sacred.

Yet for us ? For the Citizens of this country ?

There is complete agreement between all of us, that this Rajapaksa regime does not adhere to Constitutional rule. The impeachment does not intend to have a clean Chief Justice (CJ). We all know, for a regime which does not hold the Constitution and people's Sovereignty with respect, an independent judiciary is not only unwanted, but also would take it as a hindrance. The impeachment is therefore an attempt to have the judiciary under the total control of the Executive, the way the Legislature is held.

There is an urgent need for such control by the Executive and could be summarised thus.

1. The largest social security fund in whole of South Asia is our Employees' Provident Fund (EPF) with around a Trillion rupees in its hold. This fund was to be used to establish an employees' pension fund, for which a bill was hurriedly presented in parliament by the government, with the Opposition accepting it for the first reading. This attempt by the government was defeated only on the strength of the agitations and protests of organised labour. Now, 11 trade unions together have petitioned the Supreme Court, praying for all details of investments by the Monetary Board (MB) of the Central Bank, using monies from the EPF and a stay order to stop any further investments of EPF monies by the MB of the Central Bank.

2. The Opposition has also agreed to allow this regime to have the “Divi Neguma” bill in the Order book of the parliament the way they wished, without any amendments or the consent of the PCs. But there still remains space for any citizen to seek judicial intervention on the Divi Neguma bill.

3. The budget for year 2013 was Read in parliament for the Second time without any required amendments as determined by the Supreme Court, with clear participation by the Opposition, that now makes it legal having passed through parliament in its Third reading too. The problem nevertheless as better understood by the President is, the regime can not always pin faith on Opposition support for such unconstitutional necessities of the regime.

Does this parliament therefore, represent us, the citizens ? We have a loud “NO” as the answer.

Although this parliament was elected by the people, it does not represent the people who elect it. The 1978 Constitution that installed an Executive Presidency has totally devalued the representative factor of this parliamentary system of rule. The Constitution not only makes the President, the Head of State, but also the Leader of the ruling party. The President thus becomes almighty, with unlimited powers vested in him/her to foster positions, perks and any privilege upon any MP of his/her choice. Thus the parliament has turned out be a House that follow the dictates of this almighty President.

That deformity in people's representation is topped by the legal provision the Opposition MPs have gained from the ruling given by former CJ, Sarath N Silva, in crossing over to the government. This has negated the votes of many hundred thousand voters, who wanted them represented in parliament.

This parliament has thus created a very wide gap between an “elected” parliament and one that “represent” the people. People's Sovereignty in parliament depends on how far and seriously the elected members represent the people and not on what is written into the Constitution alone. In other words, the attempt to have Standing Orders and traditions adhered to in parliament, or working to save the membership of the Commonwealth, would not help preserve people's representation in parliament.

The role of the Opposition to date as regards the impeachment, did not recognise our representation in any way. It only helped the regime to further establish its authority in parliament. This regime only wants an Opposition in parliament to vote against it, in order to give all its decisions a democratic validity. Engaging in the coming debate on the impeachment, would only give that credibility to this regime that lacks any.

Today, people's sovereignty is where the people come on the streets. Where people demand a living wage, reduction in cost of living, farmers' monthly pension, fair play and opportunities in schools' and university admissions and protests against arbitrary arrests and detentions, abductions, involuntary disappearances, extra judicial and custodial killings, torture, physical and sexual abuse of children, rape of women and continuous and unsolved murders and crimes. Where people are out on the streets almost daily agitating and potesting.

Therefore, we should not and can not be represented in parliament to provide this regime a decent license and a democratic facade. Such collaborations don't give us any representation. It is the Opposition that now has the responsibility to represent us, Citizens, right and proper. We therefore take this opportunity to tell, what and how we citizens should be represented in parliament.

We thus request you to influence and convince your party leadership to represent our political aspirations firm and right by,

• refusing any collaborations with the regime in parliament that would provide the regime the credibility and democratic look it lacks and accordingly withdraw from and boycott the proposed debate on the impeachment report, when parliament resumes sittings again.

We firmly believe you would collaborate with us citizens in giving our representation its due meaning and responsibility.

Thanking you,

yours in sovereignty of the people,

Anton Marcus - Joint Secretary, Free Trade Zones &General Services Employees Union

Joseph Starlin - President, Ceylon Teachers Union

Muditha Karunamuni - Treasure, Union of Postal &Telecommunication Officers

Saranapala Silva - General Secretary, United Federation Of Labour

Dammika Jayawardana - President, Ceylon Estate Staff Union

Niel Wijethilaka – General Secretary , United Workers Union

R.S.Nandal - President, Insurance Cooperation Employees Union

Lal Bangamuwage - Independent Port Workers Union

Deelapa Witharana - Senior Lecture Sri Lanka Open University

Attorney at law, Srinath Perera – Workers' Democratic Forum

Jayathilake Bandara – Musician and Convenor, “We are Citizens”

Jagath Kularatne – Business Manager

Hasantha Gunaweera – Professional Social Mobiliser

Kusal Perera – Journalist, Chief Editor – “Subhavitha” periodical

Dr. Sunil Wijesiriwardne

Uncontested Findings Against The CJ By The PSC

By Vishvamithra -December 27, 2012

Chief Justice

On going tussle between the Judiciary, Executive and the Legislative (absolutely nothing more than puppets conduct themselves according to the whims and fancies of the Executive President) is surely a step forward for restoring democracy proper in this inland nation. Particularly since the 1972 Constitution, separation power between the three organs of the government was not worth the paper (the Constitution) it was written. Since then the judiciary, headed by the CJ in most cases plainly deliver what the Executive desired and failed to uphold the role of the watchdog of the people, whose inalienable judicial power it exercises.

Incidence of betrayals of the people, who had placed their trust in the judiciary are in abundance in the recent history. Probably the best is the unbecoming conduct of Asoka De Silva J who was appointed over Srirani Bandaranayake J to approve the 18^th amendment to facilitate MR contest for a third term with no issues whatsoever raised when contested before the Supreme Court. Then this very same person simply to please MR had audacity to declare that the Court Martial that found Gen Sarath Fonseka guilty for charges levelled against him without a fair trial afforded to him also a Court. For the job well-done Asoka Silva was given a special presidential advisor post on top of the full pension afforded to him. The judges in the Apex Court are given a pension of 100% salary drawn at the time of retirement for a reason; that is to lead a respectable and exemplary life after retirement sans becoming stooges of any politician or political party.

Next come Sarath N Silva J who let the MR off the hook, in a case where serious allegations were levelled against MR for defrauding tsunami funds. Sarath Silva J, removed all impediments faced by MR and simply allowed him contest the Presidential Election. Later bringing insult to injury Sarath Silva had the audacity to admit that he made a monumental blunder and that he was directly responsible for not dealing MR appropriately as required by law. He publicly admitted that had he acted according to law MR should have been behind bars. It is hard to believe the character of this person who appears to have lost all his senses when he make various public utterances, defending all actions taken by MR regime and the inquiry proceedings conducted by the PSC against the CJ that lacked transparency, fairness that is guaranteed to any citizen in this Country.

Yet, from the peoples’ view point what is unfolding before them seems to be good for the democracy. At least from now if the judges in the Apex Court have little bit of insight should realise their constitutional obligation to the people of this country and that the judicial power they enjoy emanates from the people (who enjoy the sovereignty over all three institutions) and not the Executive.

People with little bit if insight knows that there some public officers appointed to the Apex Court from the Attorney General’s department by the Executive in an effort to have some influence in the Supreme Court. Surely in most of these subservient officials lacks character, will and commitment required to uphold the judicial power of the people, particularly when it matters most like situations where there is serious threat pose to the democratic rights and fundamental freedom guaranteed by the constitution by the Executive or the Legislature.

In this backdrop the right thinking people earnestly believe that judges in the Superior Courts would learn a costly but good lesson from this impeachment saga that is not to betray the people of their rights when there is threat to their rights either by Executive or the Legislature. People cry nothing more nothing less that justice from the Supreme Court headed by the CJ that is to deal with any member or group in the Executive and the Legislature, who had taken a constitutional oath to uphold the rule of law and to perform their respective offices with utmost honestly and integrity, appropriately and as required by law without any fear or favour. Lessons to be learnt are many from neighbouring countries, particularly from Pakistan where the Supreme Court headed by the Chief Justice fearlessly discharge their constitutional duty to the letter, safeguarding rule of law, the democratic rights and fundamental freedom of the people.

Role vested in the Supreme Court headed by the CJ becomes heavier, particularly since the country is under siege by Rajapakse Wickramasighe top-secret pact that had effectively made the opposition redundant and impotent.

Sri Lanka is No. 1 nation in ‘sex’ searches on Google;

Sexual abuse of female LTTE cadres were widespread during the war

Sri Lanka: Ruling party politicain poses for a photographer

According to Google Trends, search for the term peaked in Sri Lanka during the week April 15-21, 2012, even as the partial data for the current week (December 23-29, 2012) shows it as second-highest week during which the term was Goggled in 2012.

In India, people most Googled for the term during the week November 11-17, 2012 while the week October 21-27, 2012, wasn’t far behind.

When it comes to breaking down the data by cities, however, India’s Bangalore tops the charts for people Googling the term ‘sex’ in 2012.

In fact, the top 5 slots are all Indian cities – Bangalore is followed by Chennai, Pune New Delhi and Calcutta, in that order.

And mind you, this is a worldwide list – not the list of Indian cities most searching for the term. Pakistan’s Lahore is at No. 6 while the next two – Chandigarh and Mumbai – are again Indian cities, followed by Thanh Pho Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi, both in Vietnam.

Below are the ‘rankings’ for 2012, as of December 26, 2012.

Sri Lanka is No. 1 nation in ‘sex’ searches on Google; India’s Bangalore tops among cities

India follows close, according to Google Trends

Published THURSDAY, DECEMBER 27, 2012

Not many will doubt that one of the most sought after keyword on Internet is “sex”. And Sri Lankans, it seems, are the most search savvy when it comes to Googling that term.

This is according to Google Trends, a public web facility that shows how often a particular search-term is entered relative to the total search-volume across various regions of the world, and in various languages.

The research, carried out by Emirates 24/7 as of December 26, 2012, shows that second-placed India is not far behind in search for the term, and so isn’t (surprise, surprise) #3 Papua New Guinea and #4 Ethiopia even as Pakistan completes the Top 5 nations that Googled for ‘sex’ in 2012.

According to Google Trends, search for the term peaked in Sri Lanka during the week April 15-21, 2012, even as the partial data for the current week (December 23-29, 2012) shows it as second-highest week during which the term was Goggled in 2012.

In India, people most Googled for the term during the week November 11-17, 2012 while the week October 21-27, 2012, wasn’t far behind.

When it comes to breaking down the data by cities, however, India’s Bangalore tops the charts for people Googling the term ‘sex’ in 2012.

In fact, the top 5 slots are all Indian cities – Bangalore is followed by Chennai, Pune New Delhi and Calcutta, in that order.

And mind you, this is a worldwide list – not the list of Indian cities most searching for the term. Pakistan’s Lahore is at No. 6 while the next two – Chandigarh and Mumbai – are again Indian cities, followed by Thanh Pho Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi, both in Vietnam.

Below are the ‘rankings’ for 2012, as of December 26, 2012.

Top 10 Countries where People Googled the term ‘sex’ in 2012

1. Sri Lanka

2. India

3. Papua New Guinea

4. Ethiopia

5. Pakistan

6. Bangladesh

7. Vietnam

8. Nepal

9. Somalia

10. Cambodia

Top 10 Terms Used

1. free sex

2. sex video

3. sex videos

4. porn sex

5. porn

6. indian sex

7. hot sex

8. sex tube

9. sex stories

10. sex girl

Top 10 Cities where People Googled the term ‘sex’

1. Bangalore

2. Chennai

3. Pune

4. New Delhi

5. Calcutta

6. Lahore

7. Chandigarh

8. Mumbai

9. Thanh Pho Ho Chi Minh

10. Hanoi

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Acts Of Unreserved Surrender By Our Leaders?

By Chandra Jayaratne -December 25, 2012

Chandra Jayaratne

Acts of Unreserved Surrender by Our Leaders?

A Total Abdication Leads to the Sacrifice of Our Rights

“Our leaders, by acts of unreserved surrender, have abdicated their accountability to us and totally sacrificed our rights before those in governance” was a pathetic cry heard recently from the wilderness, in a stage play that is in public performance currently. An unknown source is attributed to have narrated the moral of the story as the play came to an end “The pig and the chicken were on their way to breakfast, trying to decide what to have. When the chicken said, ”Let’s have ham and eggs.” The pig then replied,”That’s fine for you, it’s a small donation on your part, but it’s a total sacrifice for me.” Guess who our leaders, the pig and the chicken in this story are?

The acts of surrender, as performed on stage, began with the financial crisis a few years ago. After that storm ended and as the animals picked the remnant left by the robber barons, those in governance walked away to a hail of bugles announcing ‘we are great’, ‘we delivered growth as the world saw an economic recession’. Seeing no amber lights, with this attitude and egoism, we did not prod them to action accountability.

Then we surrendered any rights we had to restrict future bad governance, when the 17^thAmendment was burnt and the 18^th introduced .As a great wall was built around surrounding us and strategic arms were to acquired as arsenal of future governance, we minded our business seeing no dangers to our basic rights.

As the stock market flourished and did two consecutive years of over a century in growth, we applauded and hailed our leadership achievements. We blinded ourselves to the market manipulations, pony racing and pump and dump games played on openly by the favourite punters. We also blinded ourselves to the state bank funds and the working class savings pot being used as a channel to dump large volumes of stock that had unjustly enriched the favoured ‘mafia’.

Around then same time we dug deep in to our pockets and coughed up the over one hundred million dollars in cash to support a burnt out effort, danced on stage with all the ‘peacock pomp and pageantry’ to the hail of loud speakers announcing a Commonwealth Games in the back yard of the home of the king. The only outcome we have to account to our stakeholders is the fun and good times of some in governance and the enrichment of professionals and PR hailers during the bid process.

We used a black cloth to cover our eyes and gag our mouth as the precious forex reserves were dwindled to support egoistic and unprofessional monetary management. We watched in silence the efforts in pursuit of hoodwinking the animals that the great resurgence had begun towards a new star of Asia being born. We hailed the announcement of rising per capita GDP growth targets. We plugged our ears when these ego merchants blared about 4 and 5 K growth delivery which was around the corner. Towards this elusive dream we sold the precious ‘gold’ in the treasury and appreciated the Rupee, killing the export sector slowly. With the double whammy of our external debt accumulating at a rate faster than ever, we yet remained silent in surrender.

We also surrendered our future as policy changes expanded our trade gap. We took foreign commercial loans and used them in meeting the deficit of the badly managed national budget and invested in projects with no matching dollar cash flows. Here too we watched them strangle the export sector with the exchange rate policy in force. To make matters worse we joined in the chorus of support, as the Executive went with the begging bowl to the IMF for a bail out. Even then we never dared to say ” we need transparency, accountability and risk mitigation of class ‘A’ grade”, at least hereinafter”.

Then we made the supreme surrender, by only making a few murmurs, that also mostly privately, when the Expropriation Bill was enacted contrary to the promise by leaders in governance swearing to deliver saving grace clauses. This surrender made us bound hand and foot, with no advocacy internationally or legally.

Next came the threat of takeover of part of the property inside our boundary fenced plantations, purportedly for distribution to the landless villagers. The red signals flashed as these new owners were to operate within the plantation, whilst our own landless plantation labour stayed confined to line rooms. Here again we may have meekly surrendered our property risks mitigation options. This threat yet remains a risk looming in the horizon.

The screws of the coffin of slow and painful death were then slowly tightened. The first began tightened by allowing the private sector and banks to borrow big sums in foreign currency, with the Executive promoting same through big adverts. We hailed this as a very progressive step. Not many were concerned that essential processes of risk mitigation and risk management techniques were not being advocated prominently. Was this a move with intent to leverage our balance sheets with risks to us when state balance sheet was over stretched with debt leverage? The pinnacle state bank s were seen to be engaging in multimillion dollar property investments and borrowing in foreign currency and lending in Rupees mainly to poorly performing public institutions . Will any such borrowings by banks tied to unrestricted lending to state entities, lead to another round of possible state funded re capitalizations in the not too distant future.

We remained gagged and blinded as the military apparatus supported by subsidies costs began competing with us and poor householders. We also looked the other way as politicos were behind gang fights, murders,child abuse and even extra judicial killings of those in custody.

The sale of islands for tourism and long lease of land for property development with total state capture and without transparency and validation of the real nature and faces of the investors and their credibility remained unopposed by us. Port expansion and land reclamations on Galle Face using foreign commercial borrowings continue and we lauded them and clean Colombo efforts blind to mounting national debt burdens.

Continuing with a risky foreign policy of attacking our old and reliable trading and investment partner countries in the west, keeping India at arm’s length and embracing China, whilst holding hands with Iran and Russia and making positive overtures to African countries was not seen as not in our long term interest, despite the trade and investment links with the latter new friends being marginal. We have abandoned an aggressive stand with our advocacy to link with Indian supply chains via CEPA, as strongly argued for by several globally recognized Sri Lankan economists.

The final screws of the coffin began tightening in the recent months. The first of these tightened with the passage of the national budget 2013, in conflict with the Supreme Court determination. Leaders in governance did not care two pennies for the need for transparency and good governance as articulated by the Supreme Court by agreeing, without parliamentary sanction, not to transfer one budget line to another, not agree to rein in the spending of slush funds reserved only for extreme situations, and not to take foreign loans. This extreme step of passing the next year’s Appropriation Bill without strict adherence to the SC ruling based on a non transparent Attorney General’s advise using the higher majority in parliament, may lead to risks surfacing during due diligence the next time commercial loans are negotiated. Will sponsoring bankers raise amber if not red flags in the future on the constitutionalism of this move? How will we react then by being silent now?

The next screw to tighten was with a real reversal of support to the export sector and in attracting foreign investments to bridge the investment gap. By allowing the exchange rate over to appreciate by a significant margin over a short period and the big boss announcing that there will be further appreciations to come as new FDI and loan remittances come in, signaled the potential severe uncertainty in the exports sector. This step will rivet the screws to a position of no return as far as investors and exporters are concerned. However, we have blinded ourselves remaining silent.

Most importantly we watched the impeachment saga unfold, and also watched the noose tighten around the rule of law and independence of the judiciary with the stoning of courts, judicial high ups being pistol lashed by goons and finally a the biggest dolphin fish, once a dancing partner of the giant whales, being declared guilty by a kangaroo court to crimes deserving a death sentence by public hanging. A late murmur of reservation on risks ahead shows our blindness as this Executive action. Resultant state capture will send shivers down the spines of investors, realizing that they will in the future operate within a state without any respect for the rule of law. The clear demonstration of how not to conduct a fair trial against a purported offender will scare away future trade and investment partners.

As this saga unfolded we did not see nor want to infer that our property rights had been totally violated by the banks and bankers made pawns by the leaders in governance when made to act like starving kitten before the governing mother cat. The bank or banks in question handed over information normally held covered in velvet cloaks of legal secrecy. They have violated their trustee ship responsibility over our rightfully owned property in the form of account information. We are however blind not to see how this act of purported public examination by 117 protesting petitioners was made possible and who is and with what authority were the information obtained and shared publicly for the advancement of personal objectives of the Executive. This was an sacrilegious act sacrificing trust devolved on a banking system already creaking all over with investment scams and loans sharks operating parallel banks on the Kelani palama, as a popular Sinhalese short rag branded it.

Whilst all these risks were tightening around us, we dug deep in to our pockets to fund the night races on a play ground of the leaders, as we were consigned to a cemetery in a coffin with democracy, rule of law and justice as our pall bearers to be cremated alongside.

Can we continue to remain gagged and blinded, if the consequential risks of down grading Sri Lanka’s credit rating, increases in the country risk premium, down grading of the country on transparency, business confidence, and global investment indices drag the nation and its engine of growth spiraling down? Will we similarly look the other way if the correspondent banks insist on international counter guarantees on local letters of credit for exports and imports? Are risks of sanctions and trade restrictions a possibility?

Will we yet remain in deep meditation even as the country nose dives on bad governance, denigrating the rule of law, judicial independence being taken away, reliability of contracts at risk, validity of international borrowings filled with question marks and safety of property rights and banking transactions are seriously doubted by our trading and investment partners.

Who will volunteer to take the blinds and gags off our leaders presently not seeing and hearing and thus not advocating against what is happening in our nation negatively impacting on the engine of growth and citizens.

Tamil Alliance files case at Supreme Court appealing the release of students.

Wednesday , 26 December 2012

Tamil National Alliance has decided to approach the Supreme Court assistance for the release of Jaffna university students who are detained at the Welikanda Rehabilitation camp.

Alliance circles inform that very soon a petition will be filed in Supreme Court to release P.Bawananthan, P.Tharshanth, K.Jenamey Jayanth, S.Soloman the four students who are detained.

Contrary to the regulation, the arrested university students were transferred to the rehabilitation camp and legal elucidations would be pointed out in the petition by the Alliance.

Even though the emergency regulation which was prevailing in the country was abolished, some vital clauses were included illegally to the terrorism prevention act.

Legal experts pointed out that the Jaffna University students were detained in the rehabilitation camp, according to clause 1721/5, one of the clauses which were included in the terrorism prevention law.

After the emergency regulation was abolished, four disciplinary regulations were incorporated to the terrorism prevention law and one of the regulation 1721/5 paves way for those surrendered could be kept under rehabilitation.

Arresting a person and forcibly taking his signature in a document and stating that he surrendered and in the name of rehabilitation transferring to rehabilitation camp, could be done under this disciplinary regulation was pointed out by Legal experts.

Beginning of January the petition would be filed by Alliance which is aware from party circles.

Urging the release of Jaffna university students, Tamil National Alliance including Tamil parties conducted continuous protests. However forces sector explicitly notified, only after the rehabilitation, the students would be released.

Jaffna University students were arrested at the end of November month is according to information.

Shavendra and Gotabhaya, Sarath’s “war crimes” stories further confirmed

Wednesday, 26 December 2012

It has once again been proven that a large number of Tamil civilians were killed in the Tamil genocidal war. An article published in The Island newspaper on the 23rd states that a large number of civilians were trapped in a narrow 2 kilometer stretch of land in Mullavaikkal.

It was Major General Shavendra Silva, who is now Sri Lanka’s Deputy Permanent Representative in New York, who was in-charge of this area where there were a large number of trapped civilians. Therefore, the war crimes charges leveled against Silva have been further proven.

It is clear that Gotabhaya Rajapaksa and Sarath Fonseka were also directly involved in the genocide. It is said that Silva who commanded the 58th Brigade was to be removed from the post since he did not follow orders.

The article states that Gotabhaya Rajapaksa had given direct orders to Silva. Although there have been various court verdicts given on cases, it is clear that Gotabhaya Rajapaksa had given the orders to Shavendra Silva to kill the LTTE leaders like Pulidevan, Nadesan and Ramesh when they had tried to surrender carrying white flags, as Fonseka had stated to The Sunday Leader newspaper.

The article published in The Island newspaper on the 23rd proves that Gotabhaya Rajapaksa had given orders directly to Shavendra Silva. Therefore, Fonseka’s statement to The Sunday Leader newspaper has been re-confirmed.

Balachandran assassinated on Gotabhaya’s orders by Major General Kamal Gunaratne

On July 14, 2012 we revealed that LTTE Leader Velupillai Prabhakaran’s 14 year old son, Balachandran Prabhakaran was killed by the commanding officer of the 53rd Brigade, Brigadier Kamal Gunaratne on a directive by Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa when Balachndran had surrendered to the army.

Therefore, the expose has also been confirmed in the above mentioned article.

In Retrospect: Death of a human rights defender

26 DECEMBER 2012

BY NIRMANUSAN BALASUNDARAM

At around 2.30 am on the 25th of December 2005 , I received a text message from a friend of mine who worked for an international news agency. Since the beginning of “another phase” of extra-judicial killings, abductions and disappearances during Eelam War - IV, we, a substantial number of journalists and human rights activists had a network to share breaking news and info about political and military developments, particularly with a focus on human rights before the news or information was even published in any media.

Considering the time that I received the message, even before I opened it, I realized that it would be very disturbing. My discernment did not go wrong.

If I remember correctly, the SMS said, “TNA MP Joseph Pararajasingham was shot and killed and his wife was wounded inside the Church during Christmas Eve prayers in Batticaloa”. At the beginning I could not believe it, later I reconfirmed that Mr.Pararajasingham was shot inside the Cathedral in Batticaloa town that was crowded with people attending the Christmas mass presided by the Bishop of Batticaloa. I was deeply shocked. It was worrisome news not only to the Tamil nation, but to all those fighting to protect and promote human rights.

Today [25 December 2012], with utmost respect, we commemorate the Seventh year remembrance of Mr. Pararajasingham, while perpetrators of this cold blooded crime are continuing to enjoy life within the culture of impunity that exists in Sri Lanka with the blessings of a reign of terror.

Final farewell

The last time I met Mr. Joseph Pararajasingham was a few months before he was assassinated. Our meeting took place at his official residence in Keppetipola Mawatha, Colombo 05. It was scheduled for an hour, though without the realization that it would be our last meeting, the conversation continued for nearly two hours. He stayed in Colombo due to immediate life threats that he faced as he highlighted the human rights situation of the Tamil people and challenged a paramilitary group.

The prime topic of our conversation was about human rights. He was deeply disturbed and worried about the deteriorating human rights situation in the East and generally concerned about the unhealthier political developments throughout the island. ”While being a parliamentarian, I became a prisoner, too. I wanted to be with my people. They are suffering a lot. Even, though we cannot prevent the suffering of our people, at-least we should draw the attention of the world to the ongoing human rights violations. That might diminish their suffering,” the slain MP told me during the conversation.

He further said, “I am happy to know that you are working as a journalist while being involved in the human rights field. At this stage, our community needs to invest a great deal in these fields, but unfortunately parents are scared to send their sons and daughters to these fields as it is risky, that is also understandable”. Just before we said goodbye to each other, he wished and encouraged me and told me to take care.

A fighting legacy

I was really motivated by our conversation and decided to engage with him proactively depending on both our conveniences as he also expressed his interest to meet me in the future, but we both never thought that would be our last goodbye. His passion for protection and promotion of human rights and the Tamil cause is indeed inspirational. After his death, the human rights situation of the Tamil people worsened further, but still he serves as an inspiration, when we fight for rights and justice.

In his parliamentarian life, Mr.Pararajasingam, documented human rights violations in eastern Sri Lanka during the 1990’s and brought it to the attention of the international community. He persistently challenged the Sri Lankan government on its human rights record. The Sri Lankan parliament records, the “Hansard”, will contain ample evidence of his brave challenges to the Sri Lankan state on its human rights record. He traveled the world as a member of parliament, representing the Tamils, to meet foreign ministers and foreign affairs officials and brought the human rights situation in Northeast to their attention. In his last visit to North-East Secretariat on Human Rights (NESoHR) in Kilinochchi to mark the International Human Rights day on December 10th 2005, he told us that he has decided to station himself in Batticaloa from now on and take up the human rights issues in his district. He told us that he was ready to take any risks that this would entail.

The death of Mr. Pararajasingam was irreparable to the Tamil cause, which has faced decades of oppression and discrimination. Since the brutal murder of Mr. Pararajasingam, there is a huge vacuum to replace his contribution. At the same time, human rights violations have peaked higher than ever in the history of Tamil struggle.

Facing the challenge

The present Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has to play a crucial role to address the mass atrocities, including genocide that continues against the Tamil nation in different forms. But, the TNA has failed to take adequate actions to address the mass atrocities that continue against Tamils, in an appropriate manner.

Therefore, it is a vital responsibility and moral obligation of the Tamil nation to either, strengthen and coordinate the work of existing human rights organizations that work genuinely or, to form a creative and constructive foundation that can stop the ongoing genocide against Tamil nation.

A formation as an innovative initiative is not only capable of stopping the ongoing genocide and seek justice that has been denied for decades to the Tamil nation, but also be a fitting means to pay respect to human rights defenders in a meaningful manner, who sacrificed their life for the rights of the Tamil people.