PSC Not Considered Whether The Charges Were Proved Or Not, Premajayantha’s Claim Is Clear Evidence – LfD By Colombo Telegraph -January 2, 2013 “The statement made by Minister Susil Premajayantha who served as a member of the PSC, that proving charges against the CJ is not a crucial factor at the probe as it was not a legal process, is amusing and goes to vindicate the stand taken up by the lawyers appearing for the CJ, the opposition members of the PSC, the Bar Association of Sri Lanka and those who stand for democracy, rule of law and independence of the judiciary, that the whole inquiry by the PSC was a sham. Standing order 78A(7) specifically states that a resolution to be presented to the President for removal of a judge shall be on the ground of proved misbehavior or incapacity. There should be a finding of guilt to proceed further and Article 107 of the Constitution is clear that a judge can be removed only for proved misbehavior or incapacity.” says the Lawyers for Democracy. Susil Premajayantha the Lawyers for Democracy today said; “From the Ministers’ statement it is clear that the PSC has not considered the most important aspect of the whole inquiry, that is, whether the charges were proved or not. It is obvious from this statement that the PSC has acted on its opinion and not on a determination of guilt. After this admission by a senior member of the PSC it is not possible to uphold that the inquiry was a judicial inquiry into the charges against the CJ.” Lawyers for Democracy calls upon the Speaker to terminate these proceedings against the CJ even at this late stage.

PSC Not Considered Whether The Charges Were Proved Or Not, Premajayantha’s Claim Is Clear Evidence – LfD

By Colombo Telegraph -January 2, 2013

“The statement made by Minister Susil Premajayantha who served as a member of the PSC, that proving charges against the CJ is not a crucial factor at the probe as it was not a legal process, is amusing and goes to vindicate the stand taken up by the lawyers appearing for the CJ, the opposition members of the PSC, the Bar Association of Sri Lanka and those who stand for democracy, rule of law and independence of the judiciary, that the whole inquiry by the PSC was a sham. Standing order 78A(7) specifically states that a resolution to be presented to the President for removal of a judge shall be on the ground of proved misbehavior or incapacity. There should be a finding of guilt to proceed further and Article 107 of the Constitution is clear that a judge can be removed only for proved misbehavior or incapacity.” says the Lawyers for Democracy.

Susil Premajayantha

the Lawyers for Democracy today said; “From the Ministers’ statement it is clear that the PSC has not considered the most important aspect of the whole inquiry, that is, whether the charges were proved or not. It is obvious from this statement that the PSC has acted on its opinion and not on a determination of guilt. After this admission by a senior member of the PSC it is not possible to uphold that the inquiry was a judicial inquiry into the charges against the CJ.”

Lawyers for Democracy calls upon the Speaker to terminate these proceedings against the CJ even at this late stage.

UNP weak at the knees again on the impeachment (Lanka-e-News-02.Jan.2013, 11.55PM) Based on the communiqués issued by the UNP , the main opposition party so far pertaining to the impeachment process that had gone this far , it is clearly confirmed that the UNP is taking a stance which is weak at the knees. A weak barren plantain tree does not bear fruit nor does it die. No matter how big its (tummy) stem is, a weak plantain tree is useless and it is natural for the people to uproot it and throw it away . Even the soil under it is removed and replaced with fresh soil implying it is that useless. Lakshman Kiriella , Attorney at law and a senior UNP er among those whose mouths cannot be gagged by the leader recently said in connection with the impeachment process , if notices are issued ,he would appear before the court ( in any case the UNP says , the court had not issued summons on the UNP representatives of the Select Committee), and the UNP will obey whatever directives issued by it. Yet , UNP Gen. Secretary , Tissa Attanayake who is not a Lawyer , had again stated that since the impeachment process is a Parliamentary matter , courts will not be attended. Because the UNP is even today following the verdict delivered by Anura Bandaranaike earlier on when he was the speaker , that the Legislature is supreme , his party will not attend courts as this will be lowering the dignity of the Parliament , Attanayake added. What is perplexing and vexatious about the statement of the UNP Gen. secretary is , it brazenly contradicts the UNP ‘s solemn undertaking given to the UN human rights Commission when the UNP was in power in 2002 ,and worse still is the UNP stance now alongside with the Govt. when the latter is conducting the impeachment process grossly unheeding the undertaking given to the UN Human rights Commission. In 2002, the Dep. Solicitor general of the Govt. had given a solemn undertaking that the decision of a Select Committee in regard to the impeachment motion shall be subjected to a supreme court review. In other words , the Parliamentary process shall be submitted to a judicial review. Hence , what Tissa Attanayake is blabbering now is incomprehensible by any stretch of imagination. As the UNP Gen. secretary is not a lawyer and is ignorant of the laws , he ought to have at least sought the advice of PC Wijedasa Rajapakse , a member of the UNP working Committee. Meanwhile, Dr. Jayampathy Wickremeratne a legal constitution expert has this to say : The Executive and some sections of the Parliament constitution makers say , neither the supreme court (SC ) nor the appeal court has no rights to give a court verdict on this issue. But let these individuals be enlightened and educated on the fact that in 2002, SL in its fourth report relevant to the covenant of the International civil and political rights, we have ourselves specially mentioned that when a judge is to be removed from her post , the Parliamentary process towards that can be reviewed by the courts. In such circumstances , the question springs up , how can these measures be taken now in defiance of this undertaking? True what was told in Geneva don’t apply in our courts. But , what I cant understand is how these individuals can make changes whimsically to those undertakings given internationally ? These individuals are making wild statements and taking such measures without considering the national interests . There is a more fundamental and vital question : under what provision of the constitution do you find what these individuals are waxing eloquent? I am also searching for these provisions. As far as I know , there are only two provisions in the constitution which limit the powers of the court. Section 35 of the constitution which grants immunity to the President. The other is , section 80 sub section 3 , where it states that after an enactment is passed , the courts cannot examine whether that is within the constitution.Except for these two limitations , I have not seen any other in the constitution. Though I have been diligently searching for it , so far I have not come across such a thing. Aren’t these individuals relating ancient stories by clinging on to the British Parliament as being supreme? What I cannot understand is , why these individuals who are so vociferous and speaking against dictatorial reign clinging on to the British Parliament ? In any event the British Parliament traditions are not at all relevant to us because we are a republic and we have a republican constitution . Our own constitution is supreme . Therefore , nowhere in our constitution is there anything mentioned to limit the court powers except in those two instances I had mentioned.

A Stooge Chief Justice In The Horizon

By Kamal Nissanka -January 3, 2013

Kamal Nissanka

The controversy regarding the impeachment of the chief justice is strongly debated in many corners and general public is holding the view that the government has messed up everything with this unnecessary manure. The debate is also taking place in the international arena. The Canadian Bar Association has requested the Canadian government to re consider the participation of the Canadian Prime Minister at the upcoming Commonwealth Heads of State Meeting in Sri Lanka.  United Nations Special Rapporteur on Independence of judges and Lawyers Ms Gabriela Knaul has requested the Sri Lanka government not to attack the judiciary and the bar. Bar Human rights Committee of England and Wales has also released  very strong statement requesting the authorities to obey the Court of Appeal directives.

Starting from the attacks leveled at Mannar Magistrate Court   and intimidating the Magistrate, things developed to assault Mr. Manjula Thilakarathne , Secretary to the Judicial Services Commission, with no trace of the culprits by the police or CID  ,then threatening two lawyers  Mr. Gunarathna  Wanninayake  and Mr.Wijedasa Rajapaksha also President of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka with  gun sound ,the authorities have shown the insane nature of their behavior. Then the stooge state media, print and electronic was insanely curry favoring the authorities began their campaigned mudslinging and slandering the judges and lawyers who were vehemently opposing the interference of judiciary and mechanism of rule of law by the excutive and through parliamentarians. Difficult to bear further the onslaught by the corrupt state media, an editor was charged for contempt of court. In the meantime the seven government  parliament members who are also part of the prosecuting team started their ‘trial’ requesting the Chief Justice(CJ) to disprove   the charges which were even unknown to the 117 signatories of the government parliamentary group. It is reported that two members of the Parliamentary select Committee (PSE) had verbally abused the CJ negating all rules adopted by United Nations and Commonwealth principles regarding the impeachment procedures of superior court judges. Humorous feelings are  also not unknown during this  whole saga of impeachment as “political and  media pundits” including the  government members of the  PSE  have  now started to interpret the constitution of Sri Lanka , a job specially restricted to Supreme Court judges. These ‘prosecutors’ and ‘judges’ in the Parliament will soon assume the duties of’ hangman’ to get rid of CJ unless something cannot be predicted happen.

The United National Party leadership lost a golden opportunity to gather public opinion seemed to be in favor of the impeachment by endorsing the unconstitutional standing orders and toeing in line with the government and made a strategic blunder. The Bar Association of Sri Lanka initially dormant and lethargic came forward in the circumstances and at least at a later stage entered the battle initiated by the leading lawyers of repute.

It is no doubt under the prevailing conditions the parliamentary government group is not enjoying its independence of conscience and it seems that it is well controlled by the executive through various means especially through the puppet cabinet. Administrative branch of the government  and the Police are highly politicized and already lost its independence and honored prestige. The defense sector is also well under control of the authorities. In Sri Lanka it is only the judiciary was able to maintain some degree of independence from political interference.

It is under this context that the authorities are intending to control the judiciary as they were not satisfied with the two judgments delivered on the “Divinaguma Bill”. With the ‘Divineguma”judgements  authorities  also feel  that  the devolution package  passed  at by the 13^th amendment to the constitution is as a roadblock to their real  political objectives  and want to  concentrate more and more power.

On the other side the decisions of ongoing cases at Supreme Court and Appeal Court will give binding decisions regarding all constitutional and natural justice issues surrounding the impeachment. Security of judges giving judgments against the views of the government is at stake and they may be targeted through fake impeachments.

Yet understanding the political dimension of the whole saga the probability is there to see the appearance of a stooge chief justice in the horizon. The would be chief justice may come from the Supreme Court itself, from the Attorney General’s department,  or else  may be selected from the unofficial bar. We should not forget  that Sirima Bandaranaike administration in the seventies  appointed an ex member of parliament t as a Supreme Court .Both Neville Samarakoon and Sarath Nanda Silva were political appointees in the beginning though later they had criticized  or acted against respective executives.

The second wave of protests to safeguard the independence of judiciary and rule of law will be launched   if the government continues to act on the decisions of its “kangaroo court” and later through a “Stooge Chief Justice”

Cartoon of the day

TUESDAY, 01 JANUARY 2013 

Protest campaign against military presence in universities today

by Maheesha Mudugamuwa-January 1, 2013,

Sri Lanka National Union of Students (SLNUS) will launch a new campaign against alleged military interference in the university premises today (02).

SLNUS Secretary Asanka Bulegoda told The Island that they would start the campaign by distributing leaflets at the Fort Railway Station this morning to educate the public.

He said that the government was continuing its project to militarise the universities and they would stop it at any cost.

"As the first step, the government handed over the university security to the Defence Ministry’s Rakna Lanka Security firm," Bulegoda said adding that undergraduates were seeing the consequences now.

Consequent to deploying the Defence Ministry’s security guards in universities, Army personnel entered the Jaffna University recently and harassed students, he said.

Bulegoda urged the government to put an immediate halt to any further arrests, acts of intimidation, harassment and reprisals carried out by the Terrorist Investigation Division (TID) of the police and Army against university students.

He stressed that the police presence in the university premises disrupted student activities including cultural programmes, awareness programmes and forming of student unions, which was endorsed by the University Act.

"We will deliver leaflets as our first step of a series of protests," Bulegoda said adding that they were currently discussing with other student unions on launching a collective protest against the militarisation of universities.

According to him, the aim of today’s awareness campaign was to make the public aware of the present situation in the universities with the military presence.

Bulegoda also requested the public to join their agitation to stop the harassment of undergraduates.

Rising rights violations against students – Report

University World News
Dinesh De Alwis16 December 2012

Two student unions in Sri Lanka published a report last Monday claiming an increase in rights violations against university students. The report claimed that students have suffered more than 1,000 human rights abuses since 2009.

The Student Human Rights Report 2012 contains statistics from all 15 state universities. It reported 524 cancellations of classes and, in the past year, 104 disciplinary inquiries against students, and 44 imprisonments.

There were also 67 cancellations of Mahapola scholarships, which are awarded to students from low-income families and pay US$20 a month subsistence income.

The report was produced by two major student unions: the Inter University Students’ Federation (IUSF) in association with the Student Organisation for the Protection of Human Rights (SHR). It was released on 10 December in the capital Colombo.

The report's objective is to make the public aware of rights violations against students and get the attention of authorised bodies meant to protect students' rights.

IUSF Convener Sanjeewa Bandara claimed that more than 1,000 students had been suspended from universities during the past three to four years. Students had been penalised for fighting for their rights, but would continue protesting to safeguard free education regardless of the crackdown.

Types of violations

According to the report, students at Sri Jayewardenepura University faced the worst violations, including law suits, imprisonments and class cancellations.

Early this year, there was unrest at Sri Jayewardenepura following a bomb blast that damaged the symbolically significant Student Heroes Memorial dedicated to students killed in previous uprisings. During the subsequent wave of protest, more than 100 students were arrested.

Student demonstrations against private universities led to the closure of two universities and some 200 students were arrested.

During the past two years the Ministry of Higher Education outlawed some 30 student unions, including eight major student councils, ostensibly for 'ragging' – the ritual bullying of new students, which is forbidden.

Addressing the media, IUSF Secretary Chinthaka Rajapaksa said the rights of undergraduate students had been increasingly violated over the past year and the government had not taken any action to prevent the situation.

“We are ready to submit this report to foreign and local human rights organisations for their concern,” he said. Rajapaksa vowed to keep fighting until action was taken by the authorities to protect student rights.

Head of the SHR Nuwan Bopege said: “The hardships that students face have been ignored and buried by the Sri Lankan government.

“By using free education as an excuse, the rights of undergraduates have been increasingly violated over the past year, and the government has restrained any further action taken, by either imprisonment or remanding of students.”

Bopege said two students had recently died under suspicious circumstances.

The government had a “policy of vengeance”, he claimed. “We witnessed how government treated the Jaffna university students merely because they protested” against the establishment of private universities.

“We still fight for the protection of our fellow students' rights. We will force the government to stop the violations of human rights of students. We continue our fight until government stops murdering students,” Bopege said.

Local and international human rights organisations have expressed concern about rights violations during recent violent clashes at the University of Jaffna between students and the police. Dozens of students were injured and this, along with the arrest of 10 students, sparked popular protests in Tamil-dominated northern Sri Lanka.

Amnesty International expressed grave concern about the situation at the University of Jaffna, as did the Asian Human Rights Commission, which identified the crisis there as part of the larger issues facing higher education in Sri Lanka.

A boycott by academics and students at Jaffna has ground academic activities to a halt. Parameswaran Thamodaran, president of the teachers’ association at Jaffna, told the media that many students had abandoned their studies, and that some had fled the country in fear.

The protests, strikes and other higher education controversies in recent months have been a severe setback for the ministry’s ambitions for Sri Lanka to become an Asian education hub.

Higher Education Minister SB Dissanayake claimed that the IUSF, which has the backing of the Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna party, is behind all the campus unrest.

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Abolish 13, the first demand for the year. States National Alliance

Wednesday , 02 January 2013

Action should be taken to end the 13th amendment to the constitution by the government in year 2013.The first demand requested   by us to the government for  this year, was said by National Movements Union. The movement warned that protest to abolish the 13th amendment will continue.

 

Minister Rajitha Senaratne said, in the year 2013, according to the 13th amendment a permanent settlement will be met for the racial crisis, and towards this,  activities will be processed. 

 

Commenting to this statement, alliance member and patriotic nation movement leader Prof.Gunadasa Amarasekara mentioned the above.

 

He said, the 13th amendment which was forcibly imposed in the constitution of this country by the Indian government should be immediately removed was pressurized by us to the government many times last year.

 

We believe that the government had scrutinized this issue. Hence on this basis, government should abolish the said amendment from the constitution in year 2013. 

 

This is our first demand submitted by us to President Mahinda Rajapakse on the dawn of the New Year. To abolish the 13th amendment, we will process with the necessary activities island wide which we wish to say with confidence was further mentioned by him. 

7th anniversary of 'Trinco 5' killings

02 January 2013

Seven years ago, five Tamil students were summarily executed by Sri Lanka's Special Task Force, whilst they spent an afternoon on the beach in Trincomalee.

To this day not a single person has been charged with the murders.

Despite the lack of investigation into their executions, the struggle for justice however, has not been given up on.

Photograph: TamilNet

The five slain students, who were all 21-years-old when killed, are:

Manoharan Ragihar (22.09.1985)

Yogarajah Hemachchandra (04.03.1985)

Logitharajah Rohan (07.04.1985)

Thangathurai Sivanantha (06.04.1985)

Shanmugarajah Gajendran (16.09.1985)

Last year, Amnesty International launched a “Write-for-Rights” campaign, highlighting the case of the “Trinco 5” and called for genuine investigations into this and the countless other human rights violations on the island.

See the video below to hear Dr Manoharan, the father of one of the victims, speak about the campaign.

See a report by Tamils Against Genocide (TAG) into the murders, including an affidavit from Dr Manoharan here.

Also see Amnesty International’s film on the murders entitled “Sri Lanka – Tell the Truth” below. 

Photograph: TamilNet

Shortly after the murders, journalist Subramaniyam Sugirdharajan was shot deadafter publishing photos showing the bodies of the 5 students with point-blank gunshot injuries, disproving government claims that they were killed by a grenade explosion.

In a leaked US Embassy cable from Colombo in Octber 2006, the then US Ambassador to Sri Lanka Robert O. Blake met with Sri Lankan Presidential Sdvisor Basil Rajapaksa. The cable stated,

"Speaking with surprising candor, Rajapaksa explained the GSL's efforts to prove that members of the Security Task Force (STF) murdered five students in Trincomalee in January: "We know the STF did it, but the bullet and gun evidence shows that they did not.  They must have separate guns when they want to kill some one.  We need forensic experts.  We know who did it, but we can't proceed in prosecuting them."

Meanwhile, in a more recent response to Dr Manohran by government officials, at an eventin London in 2012 Excerpts from our article "Presidential advisor accuses panellists of lying at public debate on reconciliation" have been reproduced below.

The father of one of the victims of Trinco-5 massacre, Dr Manoharan, detailed the promise given by Wijesinha on 12th June 2009 that those responsible would be brought to justice and demanded to know why no progress had been made.

“Till now nothing” asserted Dr Manoharan.

Wijesinha said that he had pressed the attorney general to prosecute, and when the attorney general said there was not enough evidence to prosecute, Wijesinha said he replied: "I said for gods sake take a leaf from the British. What they do is prosecute ten of them acquit nine.”

Incredulous, Stephen Sackur remarked, "I can't believe you said that thinking it would console him [Dr Manoharan].”

Speaking to Tamil Guardian after the event, Dr Manoharan described Wijesinha's remarks as a  “blank response”.

Dr Manoharan said,

“In 2009 he gave a promise to me, but till now, nothing [and] now he says there is no evidence.”

Asked on reflection, whether he thought there was any possibility of reconciliation, Dr Manoharan said,

“No. Nothing.”

Extra-judicial killings of Trinco-5 students by SL military - 7th Anniversary

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 02 January 2013, 00:01 GMT]
Dr Kasippillai Manoharan and four other families will be commemorating the seventh anniversary of the death of their sons extra-judicially executed by the Sri Lanka armed forces on the 2nd January 2006. The high school students, all then nearly 20-years old, were spending an afternoon at a seafront in Trincomalee when the dastardly crime, widely believed to be carried out under directives from high-level officials in Colombo, happened. While the case (DR-11/1-2006) in the Trincomalee court is kept alive for procedural reasons and the Court is unable to deliver justice due to the State's alleged complicity in the killings, legal action against Sri Lanka's President Rajapakse is proceeding in the District Columbia District Court. 

• TAG Report: Trincomalee executions

The names and the dates of birth of the five students killed at the big harbor town under the control of and heavily garrisoned by the Sri Lanka security forces are: (i) Manoharan Ragihar, DoB 22.09.1985, (ii) Yogarajah Hemachchandra, DoB 04.03.1985, (iii) Logitharajah Rohan, DoB 07.04.1985, (iv) Thangathurai Sivanantha, DoB 06.04.1985, and (v) Shanmugarajah Gajendran, DoB 16.09.1985. 

Trinco executions crime scene

Culpability chart

Speaking to TamilNet from his UK residence, Dr Manoharan said the period around Christmas and New Year is the most difficult time for him as these festivities have lost their meaning to him. "The only consolation to my family and me is the interest shown by the friends and a few organizations that keep the memories of my son alive by continuing to highlight that my sons killers are still free in Sri Lanka," Dr Manoharan said.

Dr Manoharan says in his affidavit submitted to the District Court of District of Columbia as part of the complaint to the case against Rajapakse, that he "personally believe[s] that these murders were carried out by the STF [Special Task Force] under the supervision of Superintendent of Police [SP] Kapila Jayasekara."

Oral arguments in the U.S. case is likely to be scheduled during January, legal sources in Washington said. The U.S. State Department has used in discretionary powers to support Rajapakse under Head of State Immunity who has been "charged" with committing war-crimes in the civil action.

In a classified memo written by US's Sri Lanka Ambassador Robert Blake in October 2006 to Washington, ten months after the extra-judicial execution of five students, Basil Rajapakse, had told Ambassador Blake that Special Task Force (STF) was responsible for the killings, according a Wikileaks document. 

The relevant text contained in the memo follows:

¶6. (C) Speaking with surprising candor, Rajapaksa explained the GSL's efforts to prove that members of the Security Task Force (STF) murdered five students in Trincomalee in January: "We know the STF did it, but the bullet and gun evidence shows that they did not. They must have separate guns when they want to kill some one. We need forensic experts. We know who did it, but we can't proceed in prosecuting them."

Ambassador Blake tells Washington that Rajapakse's "candid response...laid the foundation for a pragmatic relationship with the [US] embassy."

Dr Manoharan, in March, rejected Colombo's proposal in Geneva that Colombo would reopen investigations into the killing of the Trinco students, and the 17 aid workers at Muthoor saying that Colombo's assurances are another ploy to buy time to sidestep incriminating the alleged killers, the Special Task Force (STF). Dr Manoharan added that, while there were serious flaws in the Commission of Inquiries that completed investigations of the Trinco students killing, Colombo, before attempting to mislead the world again, should first release the CoI report that might contain useful details into the identity of his son's killers. 

Amnesty rally held April 2012 in NY

Amnesty International has been campaigning in Western capitals highlighting the impunity of the SriLanka military which was allegedly behind the killings of the students. In April 2012, Amnesty International human rights activists, including many high school students from the New England area, held a rally in front of Sri Lanka UN Mission, where the protesting students demanded Colombo to bring perpetrators of the crime to justice.

Two State Solution Eminently Compatible With Interests Of Tamil And Sinhala People!

By Visuvanathan Rudrakumaran -January 1, 2013 

Visuvanathan Rudrakumaran

New Year should be critical year of changes in the freedom struggle!

Sri Lanka to be isolated further in the international arena!

Just as the world is welcoming with hope and aspiration the dawn of the New Year of 2013, it gives me immense pleasure to extend my New Year wishes to the people of Tamil Eelam, those in Tamil Nadu and indeed all Tamils living across the globe.

In my New Year message a year ago, I stated that 2012 would turn out to be an important year for all of us.

The year 2012 did in fact emerge as the year in which the Government of Sri Lanka began to encounter challenges and pressures in the international arena.

The US led resolution pertaining to Sri Lanka that was passed at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva in March 2012 with the support of India was described by many as the first major political and diplomatic setback for Sri Lanka in the international arena since May 2009.  Despite being so far from meeting our expectations, this resolution has pushed Sri Lanka to the centre of international attention in terms of accountability for all of its crimes.

I also stated in 2012 that it was important for our people in the homeland to undertake direct political action, and I assured that the Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE) was committed to act in the international arena in solidarity with those in the homeland. It heartens us all to note that such direct political actions have been spearheaded in our homeland in 2012.

It is our earnest desire that 2013 also becomes a critical year of changes in the struggle of the Eelam Tamil Nation.

We should take effective measures this year in terms of isolating Sri Lanka further in the international arena.

The struggle by the people in the homeland against the genocidal actions of the Sinhala State should be intensified this year.

It is unavoidable that this year will also refresh in our collective memory the tragedy of thirty years ago in the form of the pogrom of July 1983. The July 1983 pogrom and the May 2009 genocide in Mullivaaikaal stand as stark and bloody reminders of the fact that the Tamil Nation can never live together with the aggressive Sinhala forces.

So it behooves us in TGTE to galvanize the support of the international community for a two state solution as the only option for the national conflict in the island of Sri Lanka and this will be our main political program for 2013.

I wish to reiterate on this New Year day the same message I gave out on the 2002 Martyrs Day, namely, that the two state solution will be eminently compatible with the interests of the international States, and one that will be conducive to the interests of the Sinhala people also.

The only resolution to the people of Tamil Eelam, who are a Nation that is subject to genocide by the Sinhala State, would be the establishment of an independent and sovereign state of Tamil Eelam in order to protect their physical survival. They are entitled to this through the realization of the right to self determination on the basis of being a people, and on the basis of remedial rights due to them under international law.

Such a two state solution is not at all contrary to the interests of the West, India or any other State. It is in fact compatible with the interests of all those States.

In this connection, it is important to recognize that the Sinhala State is deeply entrenched as a unitary state and is in no mood for considering any kind of reforms. Any proposals for power sharing and decentralization only remain in the realms of fantasy and are no more than just waste of time.

The two state solution has the potential to make way for the Tamil people to live as friendly neighbors with the Sinhala people. But successive rulers in Sri Lanka, through the use of a virulent form of racism, have continued to obtain the support of the Sinhala masses for their anti-democratic actions against the Tamils. In their efforts to subjugate the Tamils, the Sinhala rulers are oppressive of the democratic rights of the Sinhala people as well. It is time that the Sinhala people realized that their support for Sinhala regimes that continue aggression and genocidal actions against the Tamil people amounts to placing shackles on themselves. This is amply demonstrated by the blatant violation of democratic rights of Sinhala people by the Mahinda Rajapaksa regime today. Until the Sinhala nation realizes that a resolution of the national question requires the recognition of the Eelam Tamil people as a nation, the Sinhala people will not be liberated.

With the aims of strengthening the justifications for the two state solution, mobilizing the Tamils around the globe towards building up the soft power of the Eelam Tamil Nation, and formulating the strategies of the Tamil Eelam struggle in juxtaposition with the evolving geopolitical situation in the Indian ocean, the TGTE is organizing an international conference in the US on May 9-11, 2013. It gives me great pleasure to state that the ‘Tamil Eelam Freedom Charter’ will also be promulgated at this conference pursuant to the resolution passed in the TGTE’s 4^th Parliamentary Sessions held recently in London, UK.

I am also pleased to announce that, as a way of intensifying the political dialogue between our government and the people, we will launch an open telephone line on 14 January, 2013, with the international dial-in number +1 (212) 537-4054.

Let us move forward unceasingly in our action with the determination that the New Year will enable us to take effective moves in our journey towards liberation!

The Thirst of Tamils is Tamil Eelam.

*Visuvanathan Rudrakumaran, Prime Minister, TGTE

Where do we go from here?

WEDNESDAY, 02 JANUARY 2013 

Railway workers have been the indicator of dissatisfaction among the government sector workers even before the independence. Still they act as the barometer to test the pressure in the government sector.

I attended the annual conference of the Lanka Railway Workers' Union, held at their headquarters at Ratmalana, very recently. Everyone talked about the strike action taken on December 7 and action programmes for the coming period. That day, thousands of Lankan commuters were stranded at railway stations, island wide.

The 24-hour strike was launched by the railway trade union alliance, demanding a solution to their salary problems. A large number of office trains were obstructed and all the postal trains had been cancelled as well, a railway worker reported at the conference. Even the Railway Department said only 15 trains operated on that day. He explained further that the decision to launch a token strike had been made due to the failure of the Salary Commission to submit the salary recommendations before the deadline.

If this dispute was not resolved a continuous strike by all unions was possible.

Though train services were used by most workers to go to their places of work the government had not paid due attention to the railway.

Hence the limited funding received by the Railway was found inadequate when the increase in world market prices of materials and spares that had to be imported periodically to sustain the service was considered. The Treasury was unable to provide the total allocation required by the railway. This resulted in the deterioration of the rail services gradually and public complaints being voiced from all directions. Needless to say that during the July 1980 strike the railway

lost many resources; and the hostility of ruling elites to railway workers had been a burning issue even under the so called people’s government.
Lanka to a large extent was spared of mass struggles after the war against the Tamil rebellion that ended with a brutal repression. While one section celebrated the victory others were frightened to come out,

even though there were serious workers’ issues, but the same cannot be said for 2012, which to say the least has seen an eventful period with protests, marches, demonstrations and strikes. While the workers’ struggle to defend the provident fund was remarkable, the event that stands out for the year is no doubt the lengthy strike launched by the Federation of University Teachers’ Associations (FUTA), demanding not simply a pay hike for the academics, but additional funds for the Education Sector – to be precise, the allocation of six per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Over the last 35 years, Lanka witnessed many trade union actions including the July 1980 strike and mini hartal launched by government servants supported by other mass organisations. That led to a set back with the termination of thousands workers both in the government and commercial sectors.
However, the strike action launched by FUTA was perhaps one of the more lengthy industrial actions, dragging on for nearly three months and hampering academic activities in Universities Island wide.

Also it was a strike action that got support from all sectors of economic activity, and also from all communities.

In addition to FUTA actions, other unions, such as the General Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) representing another vital sector, also resorted to industrial action, putting forward various demands.

Following on the GMOA’s footsteps, the nurses also staged several demonstrations over various issues, which they claim neither the Health Ministry nor the government had bothered to resolve. As explained above the Railway strike became the last but not the least of this chain of
worker protests.

The demonstrations that erupted in the last year were neither confined to strike actions nor to Colombo-based activity. People in the North also took to  the streets with placards and slogans, to express their anger over issues like land grab, resettlement issues and over the lengthy detention of Tamil political prisoners. The latter was widely discussed and led to countrywide demonstrations.

This matter got more complicated with the re-arrest of so called LTTE suspects and University students. It has drawn the attention of international democratic organisations, especially in the context of family members
of the Tamil detainees highlighting their grievances over their loved ones being forced to remain behind bars for years without trial or any other legal action.
On this issue a protest took place on the streets of Colombo a few weeks ago where parents and relatives of the forcibly disappeared and the illegally detained went on a barefoot procession, all carrying urns of smoking camphor.

This protest displayed the despair of families whose pleas for answers about the missing and the illegally incarcerated have been routinely ignored by a government that doesn’t really care for its people.

 On the contrary the government has started re-arresting released prisoners and forcing them into a cycle of rehabilitation, both illegitimate and illegal. All this points to a New year beginning with powerful mass actions with perhaps railway workers wrenching the leadership of mass protest from lawyers and judges!

Book Review: A Horror Story On Sri Lanka’s War

By M.R. Narayan Swamy -January 2, 2013 |

M.R. Narayan Swamy

Book: “Still Counting the Dead“; Author: Frances Harrison; Publishers: Portobello Books; Pages: 259; Price: Rs.399

If even half of what Frances Harrison has uncovered about what the Sri Lankan state did to crush the Tamil Tigers is true, then Colombo’s political and military leadership can be in the dock for war crimes.

The former BBC journalist talks to a few who got trapped in the LTTE war zone until the Tigers were vanquished and later made their way to the West — with revolting stories of death, destruction, savagery, torture, rape and humiliation of an entire community heaped in the name of a war on terror.

“Tens of thousands of civilians were slaughtered by the Sri Lankan government,” a UN aid worker tells Frances, who painstakingly tracks witnesses to know what happened during the end stages of the war until May 2009 and, in some cases, beyond.

With international organisations abandoning over 400,000 Tamils they should have protected, there was no place to run as the military went on the kill, not bothering to differentiate between LTTE fighters and civilians. One UN official concluded that the government repeatedly declared safe zones “only to concentrate civilians in one place so as to kill as many as possible”.

This, of course, was not the official line. To the world, Sri Lankan leaders kept parroting that they had a “zero civilian casualty policy”. Frances says the UN and many Western diplomats in Colombo knew this was a lie “but remained silent”.

Nobody knows for sure how many LTTE fighters and civilians perished in the military blitzkrieg that began in 2008 and reached its peak the next year. Sri Lanka adopted “scorched-earth tactics, blurring the distinction between civilians and combatants, and enforcing a media blackout”. The world turned a blind eye, and countries from India to China backed Sri Lanka. Everyone was ready to accept Colombo’s denials at face value. You get the bone-chilling truth from Frances.

Frances meets scarred survivors who recount how they walked to surrender to the army, “their bare feet stained with human blood” and seeing “still burning, and limbless, decomposing corpses … under vehicles or alongside bunkers”. A priest remembers counting “thousands of dead on that journey, most of them civilians, not fighters”. A Sinhalese soldier jeered: “We have killed all your leaders and you are our slaves!”

A journalist who worked for the pro-LTTE web site TamilNet describes seeing “children’s brains exposed by shattered skulls” and hearing “desolate screams of their mother”.

A doctor who remained in the war zone saving thousands of lives with a group of medics recalls that after January 2009, “people would arrive (in barely functional hospitals) with all the flesh blown off their limbs, the white bones visible like chewed joints of raw human meat”. If doctors shared details of their hospital’s location with the army, “the buildings were attacked (by artillery and air) within days, if not hours”.

The doctor says the military used white phosphorous. By the end of the war, hospitals had no medicines, no bandages. Surgeries were conducted using knives. After having seen thousands of limbs and body parts, the surgeon today “cannot stand the sight of blood”.

Each recall of the war’s end stages – by a nun, a teacher, a volunteer, a LTTE fighter, a shopkeeper and a wife – is more horrific than the previous one. It is difficult to even imagine that civilians in no way responsible for what the LTTE did were subjected to such savagery by a state whose citizens they were. The account by a distraught woman married to a pro-LTTE man brings out shocking details of how Tamil women were raped at will.

Frances holds no brief for the LTTE. She denounces it for forcing Tamil civilians to forcibly live in rebel territory. “Tamil nationalist groups conveniently overlook the fact that the Tiger leaders deliberately exposed their own people to slaughter and refused to surrender…”

Sri Lanka’s tragedy is not over. “Human rights activists and journalists have continued to disappear well after the war ended – not only Tamils but Sinhalese too.” The book is a good guide to understand why the Tigers went down – after having been seemingly invincible for decades.

The book is also a powerful indictment of Colombo – and the LTTE. It should be read by anyone wanting to know what happened in Sri Lanka.

*M.R. Narayan Swamy is a senior journalist and the author of three books on Sri Lanka. He can be contacted atnarayan.swamy@ians.in

Courtesy Indo-Asian News Service