Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Sri Lankan president to visit India despite protests

2013-02-05

COLOMBO, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapaksa will leave for India later this week for what is expected to be a tension filled visit as Tamil parties gather to protest the tour, the government's media unit said here in a statement on Tuesday.

Rajapaksa will leave on Friday to visit Bodh Gaya in Bihar and Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh on Feb. 8, and is expected to meet the Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar during his visit to Bodh Gaya, according to the government's media unit.

In the lead up to the visit, Tamil political parties in southern Indian state of Tami Nadu have vowed to protest Rajapaksa 's visit to India.

The Tamil Eelam Supporters Organization, a pro-Liberation Tamil Tigers of Eelam (LTTE) organization led by DMK party leader M. Karunanidhi, has announced it will wear black and stage a protest on Feb. 8 in Chennai against Rajapaksa's India visit.

Other major political parties have also stated they will hold protests at various locations including outside Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's residence in New Delhi.

South Indian Tamils are highly critical of the Rajapaksa regime for alleged civilian deaths during the last phase of Sri Lanka's civil war and inadequate reconciliation measures since the conflict ended in 2009.

The Sri Lankan government has consistently denied civilian deaths and insisted it is working on a political solution that would eventually devolve power to minority Tamils in the north and eastern provinces.

The LTTE was militarily defeated by government forces after a three decade war.

Velmurugan and 500 others stage protest against arrival of Lankan president arrested

[ Tuesday, 05 February 2013, 02:14.59 PM GMT +05:30 ]

Members of the Tamil Nadu Vazvurimai Party organised protest against the Central government for granting permission for Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa to visit India. Party leader Velmurugan and 500 other protesters tried to enter the Tamil Nadu governor’s office was arrested this afternoon.

President Rajapaksa schedule to make his third visit to India on February 8. Entire Tamil Nadu political parties demanding the Central Government to impose travel ban against President Mahinda Rajapaksa and also stage various protests campaign in the state.
However member of the Hindu Front Ramagopalan said he always ready to welcome Lankan president.

Dirty Wars: Jeremy Scahill's antidote to Zero Dark Thirty's heroic narrative

In this new documentary, the Nation's investigative reporter lifts the lid on the ugly reality of US counter-terror operations

The film Dirty Wars details the stories of Afghans who have experienced attacks by drones or special forces. Photograph: John Moore/Getty Images-Monday 28 January 2013

A US marine and his translator meet Afghan villagers

As President Barack Obama prepared to be sworn in for his second term as the 44th president of the United States, two courageous journalists premiered a documentary at the annual Sundance Film Festival. Dirty Wars: The World is a Battlefield reaffirms the critical role played by independent journalists like the film's director, Rick Rowley, and its narrator and central figure, Jeremy Scahill.

The increasing pace of US drone strikes, and the Obama administration's reliance on shadowy special forces to conduct military raids beyond the reach of oversight and accountability, were summarily missed over the inaugural weekend by a US press corps obsessed with first lady Michelle Obama's new bangs. Dirty Wars, along with Scahill'sforthcoming book of the same title, is on target to break that silence … with a bang that matters.

Scahill and Rowley, no strangers to war zones, ventured beyond Kabul,Afghanistan, south to Gardez, in Paktia province, a region dense with armed Taliban and their allies in the Haqqani network, to investigate one of the thousands of night raids that typically go unreported. Scahill told me:

"In Gardez, US special operations forces had intelligence that a Taliban cell was having some sort of a meeting to prepare a suicide bomber. And they raid the house in the middle of the night, and they end up killing five people, including three women, two of whom were pregnant, and … Mohammed Daoud, a senior Afghan police commander who had been trained by the US."

Scahill and Rowley went to the heart of the story, to hear from people who live at the target end of US foreign policy. In Gardez, they interviewed survivors of that violent raid on the night of 12 February 2010. After watching his brother and his wife, his sister and his niece killed by US special forces, Mohammed Sabir was handcuffed on the ground. He watched, helpless, as the US soldiers dug the bullets out of his wife's corpse with a knife. He and the other surviving men were then flown off by helicopter to another province.

Sabir recounted his ordeal for Rowley's camera:

"My hands and clothes were caked with blood. They didn't give us water to wash the blood away. The American interrogators had beards and didn't wear uniforms. They had big muscles and would fly into sudden rages.

"By the time I got home, all our dead had already been buried. Only my father and my brother were left at home. I didn't want to live anymore. I wanted to wear a suicide jacket and blow myself up among the Americans. But my brother and my father wouldn't let me. I wanted a jihad against the Americans."

Before leaving, Scahill and Rowley made copies of videos from the cellphones of survivors. One demonstrated that it was not a Taliban meeting, but a lively celebration of the birth of a child that the raid interrupted. Rowley described another video:

"You can hear voices come over it, and they're American-accented voices speaking about piecing together their version of the night's killings, getting their story straight. You hear them trying to concoct a story about how this was something other than a massacre."

The film shows an image captured in Gardez, by photographer Jeremy Kelly, sometime after the massacre. It showed a US admiral named McRaven, surrounded by Afghan soldiers, offering a sheep as a traditional gesture seeking forgiveness for the massacre. The cover-up had failed.

William McRaven headed the Joint Special Operations Command, or JSoc. Following the thread of JSoc, painstakingly probing scarcely reported night raids, traveling from Afghanistan to Yemen to Somalia, Scahill's reporting, along with Rowley's incredible camerawork, constructs for the first time a true, comprehensive picture of JSoc and Commander-in-chief Obama's not-so-brave new world.

The Inauguration Day drone strike in Yemen was the fourth in as many days, along with a similar increase in strikes in Pakistan. The Washington Post reported that Obama has a "playbook" that details when drone strikes are authorized, but it reportedly exempts those conducted by the CIA in Afghanistan and Pakistan. On Inauguration Day, Obama officially nominated John Brennan, a strong advocate for the "enhanced interrogation techniques" that many call torture, and architect of the drone program, to head the CIA.

With the film Dirty Wars, co-written with David Riker and directed by Rowley, Jeremy Scahill is pulling back the curtain on JSoc, which has lately exploded into the public eye with the torture-endorsing movie Zero Dark Thirty, about the killing of Osama bin Laden. When Dirty Wars comes to a theater near you, see it.

Sadly, it proves the theater of war is everywhere, or, as its subtitle puts it: "The World is a Battlefield." As Scahill told me:

"You're going to see a very different reality, and you're going to see the hellscape that has been built by a decade of covert war."

• Denis Moynihan contributed research to this column

The 'Bleak' State of Rule of Law in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka's Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake (C) walks from the Supreme Court in Colombo on December 4, 2012. (Vikalpa/Groundviews/CPA/flickr)

February 4th, 2013 by Bhavani Fonseka

Today, the 65th National Day of Sri Lanka, offers a moment to reflect on achievements since independence. Although more than three years have passed since the end of the war in 2009, prospects for justice, peace and reconciliation continue to elude the tiny island in South Asia. More recent developments highlight the crises in the rule of law sphere, which, if not addressed, can immediately have a chilling effect on hopes for a functioning democracy and sustainable peace in Sri Lanka.

The turbulent last months of 2012 witnessed a rise in threats and attacks against the judiciary, culminating with the impeachment last month of the 53rd chief justice of Sri Lanka, Dr. Shirani Bandaranayake, in a campaign widely considered as a political vendetta by the ruling government. The impeachment was seen as a direct result of an order given by a bench headed by Bandaranayake on the constitutionality of the Divineguma Bill, which was introduced by President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s younger brother Basil Rajapaksa, the powerful minister for economic development. The motion was handed over to the speaker, Chamal Rajapaksa, elder brother of the president, on November 1, 2012. Soon after, the Supreme Court ruled against the bill, and with it saw a most efficient and speedy trial of the chief justice.

A Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) was established soon after and found Bandaranayake guilty of three of the 14 charges, but the process itself has been widely criticized nationally and internationally. The chief justice and her lawyers walked out of the proceedings due to several reasons, including not being provided sufficient time to respond to the charges and being unable to call witnesses. The demeaning nature with which a sitting chief justice was treated was demonstrated when ministers, members of the PSC, started heckling the Bandaranayake during proceedings. The lack of due process within the PSC was further confirmed when the four opposition members of the PSC walked out of proceedings, and soon after, the chief justice and her legal team walked out.

Protests against the impeachment were seen across Sri Lanka. Protests and boycotting of courts by lawyers were seen in late 2012 and in January 2013, some ending in violence when peaceful protesters were attacked by thugs. The Bar Association of Sri Lanka, in a strongly worded statement issued in December 2012, criticized the impeachment process and refused to recognize an appointment that was a result of a flawed process. In a ruling on January 3, the Supreme Court held the impeachment process not in adherence to the Constitution, calling into question the legality of the PSC and thereby raising questions of its standing and findings.

Despite the mounting protests and the likelihood of a constitutional crisis, there was no stopping government plans to impeach Bandaranayake. The findings of the PSC were debated in Parliament January 10-11, and a vote of 155 to 49 passed in favor of the impeachment, cementing the fate of the first female chief justice in Sri Lanka. Within 24 hours, the president had signed the impeachment papers. Soon after, Mohan Peiris, former attorney general and a loyalist of the Rajapakse family, was appointed by the president as the next chief justice.

This dreadful saga is the most recent in a string of devastating attacks against an ailing judiciary and a reminder of the many opportunities lost to reform and reconcile in postwar Sri Lanka. Although the government is quick to claim that progress has been made since the end of the war with the reduction of the number of internally displaced persons and construction of infrastructure, genuine problems persist among the people of Sri Lanka.

The lack of demonstrable progress resulted in the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) adopting a resolution in March 2012 calling for the full implementation of the government’s own Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC), a move supported by a cross-section of states, including the United States and India. In March 2013, Sri Lanka will be taken up again in the UNHRC. The United States last week discussed a move to present another resolution on Sri Lanka, a damning sign of the lack of progress on the ground.

The Commonwealth Secretariat has also raised concerns in recent weeks regarding the deterioration of the rule of law. This is an area to watch, with growing global criticism on the prospect of Sri Lanka hosting the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in November 2013. Most recently, the International Commission of Jurists and over 50 eminent justices and lawyers from across the world issued a letter critiquing the impeachment, with many signatories to the letter emanating from the Commonwealth and the South, dispelling government claims of a Western conspiracy.

The reality is bleak, but not all is lost. There is still room for the government to respect the Constitution of Sri Lanka, adhere to rulings of its Supreme Court and implement the findings of its own LLRC and other commissions. It is incumbent on the government to demonstrate it has the political will to implement its own promises and pledges and take steps to respect, protect and promote human rights and the rule of law. The question, though, is whether or not the government is genuinely interested in democratic reform, peace and reconciliation.

President tells West to respect UN’s founding principles

Stresses need for religious amity

February 4, 2013, 12:00 pm

President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday reminded the West that Sri Lanka respected the United Nations Charter, which stipulated the upholding of the principle of sovereign equality of all members and expected other member nations to respect its sovereignty as a member state.

In his address to the nation, on the 65th Independence anniversary celebrations, held in Trincomalee, the President said that nothing contained in the present Charter either authorised the UN to intervene in matters which were essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of any state or required the members to submit such matters to settlement.

President Rajapaksa said: "Along with gaining independence in 1948 we were able to be seated as an equal member of the United Nations Organisation. Article 2 of the United Nations Charter states that the organisation is based on the principle of the sovereign equality of all its Members. I shall now quote it, ‘1.

The Organisation is based on the principle of the sovereign equality of all its Members, 2. All Members shall refrain, in their international relations, from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or any other manner inconsistent with the purposes of the United Nations, 3. Nothing contained in the present Charter shall authorise the United Nations to intervene in matters which are essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of any state or shall require the Members to submit such matters to settlement under the present Charter."

President Rajapaksa said that Sri Lanka’s foreign policy remained non-aligned and the country had been building up new relationships while remaining within that policy.

He said that Sri Lanka’s foreign policy was that of non-alignment and it was necessary for the country to build a new era in foreign affairs based on that policy, which was essential for the freedom of Sri Lanka. In addition to traditional relations Sri Lanka had established new links with Asian, African, Arab and Latin American countries, he added.

Development and reconciliation would serve as the best answer against the anti-Sri Lanka propaganda carried out in foreign countries, he said adding "We respond to the publicity against Sri Lanka carried out abroad by inviting foreign countries to come to Sri Lanka. We have seen that the best answer to false publicity and propaganda, carried out in foreign countries is development and reconciliation in Sri Lanka. Do not believe something just because it is said, because you have read reports, critics have said it or the media has published it. We tell the people of the world – Come! Come Over and See for yourselves!"

He vowed that the government would not leave any room for racism and religious differences in the country. "It is necessary to state on this occasion that as much as racism, religious differences too can be a cause for the destruction of a country. If anyone is trying to build religious rivalry in Sri Lanka again, they do not serve their religion, but serve the interests of separatism in the country. We cannot leave room for what could not be achieved through terrorism to be gained by this."

"We are a nation that has suffered immensely for freedom. All political parties in this country should understand this. It is not only the Government, but the Opposition too has the responsibility to safeguard this freedom we have won. Protecting the country and building reconciliation is not support extended to the Government or the Opposition. It is support given to the country. It is doing one’s duty by the land of one’s birth," the President said.

Letter to the President of Sri Lanka from the American Bar Association

(Lanka-e-News -05.Feb.2013, 8.30PM)

H.E. Mahinda Percy Rajapaksa
President, Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
Presidential Secretariat
Colombo 01.
Sri Lanka

Mr. President:

The American Bar Association (ABA) is gravely concerned about the independence of the judiciary in Sri Lanka, particularly as concerns the impeachment proceedings against the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka found by that court to be unconstitutional, the removal of the Chief Justice from office despite the unconstitutionality of the proceedings and her replacement by an Executive Branch official.

The ABA is an independent, non-governmental organization representing more than 413,000 members worldwide. It regards the rule of law as the cornerstone of a free and fair society. It has a longstanding commitment to supporting the rule of law in the United States and abroad.

Numerous international human rights instruments, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the UN Basic Principles on the Independence of the Judiciary, hold judicial independence and human rights indispensable to the just rule of law.

Without an impartial judiciary, governmental claims of commitment to democracy and the rule of law ring hollow. The ABA therefore respectfully urges you to restore judicial independence in Sri Lanka, to heed the rulings of the Supreme Court and other judicial authorities and respect the essential role of the judiciary in a democratic society.

Sincerely,
Laurel G. Bellows

cc: Hon. Hillary Clinton, U.S. Secretary of State
Hon. Michele J. Sison, U.S. Ambassador to Sri Lanka
Hon. Jaliya Wickramasuriya, Ambassador of Sri Lanka to the United States
Mr. Lalith Weeratunga, Secretary to H.E. the President
Professor Gamini Lakshman Peiris, Minister of External Affairs
Emily Fleckner, Sri Lanka Country Desk Office

Read the Original letter here

Pillars of deception a future leader from the opposition may want to address

Thrishantha Nanayakkara-5 Feb, 2013

I enjoyed reading several articles written by Dayan Jayatilleka and Laksiri Fernando, on the future form of a democratic struggle launched by the people of Sri Lanka, to rise above the current political catastrophe. This is a complementary note as a Sri Lankan voter that maybe of some use to a future leader from the opposition who would give leadership to such a struggle.

ranil-wickramasinghe-2-colombo-telegraph1

President Rajapaksa himself made the remark “the intellectuals in a country hear the first footsteps of a dictator”. He tried to give the impression that the loud sounds of a dictator’s footsteps we hear are not coming from his boots. In fact, with the 18^th amendment, Divi Neguma Act, and the sacred areas act, Rajapaksa’s have already claimed victory in their path towards a dictatorship above a republican democracy. Any democratic struggle to save the country from a corrupt dictatorship in the league of Suharto’s in Indonesia, should therefore account for the pillars of deception the present status is built up upon.

1) The inferiority complex – South Asians in general tend to get mesmerized by concrete, rockets, and satellites, as symbols of prosperity, or yardsticks for comparison with the West, despite their abject poverty. The Rajapaksa’s have mastered the art of exploiting this complex. A future leader from the opposition should make an attempt to convince the people that Sri Lankan civilization should be based more on moral values in good Governance, respect for human rights, notion of citizenship, and justice, that was upheld at times of sustainable prosperity in Sri Lanka. A future leader should not only address the appalling situation at present, but also what existed during J.R. Jayawardena and R. Premadasa eras. Therefore, if this future saviour comes from the opposition UNP, he/she has to confess the flaws in the past genuinely and openly.

2) The paranoia of Island dwellers – If Island dwellers are not well informed, they can easily fall into a state of paranoia, that bars them from joining hands with other communities and countries towards a path of common prosperity. Rajapaksa’s have tactfully maintained a phantom threat from Muslims and Tamils to Sinhalese, and created the domestic atmosphere to invite criticism from the West, so that they can use it to nurture the local paranoia to appear as saviors. A future leader from the opposition should clearly redefine the criteria for international friendship. In my view a country is a friend of Sri Lanka if it buys value added products from Sri Lanka, provides technological assistance, supports the local educational infrastructure, imposes conditions on purchasing fire arms from their own ammunition suppliers, and raises unreserved criticisms on the flaws of Sri Lanka’s human rights and justice records that affect the lives of law abiding citizens. Those countries that are more interested in importing raw materials and exporting their finished products including ammunition without any concern about the human rights of the people of Sri Lanka, are not in a true friendship, but in a relationship of exploitation with Sri Lanka. According to Rajapaksa’s, friendship is about staying silent on bad human rights and justice records in Sri Lanka, and of course on bad Governance. They take the Western policy on Israel as an example. In fact they don’t expose to Sri Lankan voters that the most educated and genuine Jews who love Israel has begun to realize that the West is in a relationship of exploitation with Israel than one of true friendship, and that this exploitation would endanger the long term peace in Israel. See for example the public uproar against the Prawer Plan. Concerned Jews have begin to realize that human rights, notion of citizenship, and rule of law do matter, and that people like President Obama are better friends of Israel than far right wing republicans. Therefore, a future leader from the opposition should dissect the Rajapaksa strategy to nurture domestic paranoia to highlight the importance of local and international collaboration in technology research, international trade, democracy, and justice.

3) Blatant abuse of state media, conquering of private media, blockade of free media, and abuse of Government mechanisms like Samurdhi for political purposes: We noticed how this propaganda machinery works during the impeachment motion against the Chief Justice, Dr. Shirani Bandaranayake, and during the events leading to the incarceration of General Sarath Fonseka. It is hard to counter lies spread across the country through a mammoth propaganda machine sponsored using Tax payers’ money. Carefully notice how the innocent Samurdhi Niladhari’s are being abused as Government political messengers at village level. A future political leader from the opposition should hold pocket meetings at village level, and discuss topics relevant to their localities to encourage critical thinking. They should also keep a close dialog with the Samurdhi officers at the village level rather than hating them. They are being abused and held in ransom to an extent that a minister well known for underworld affairs tied one of them on a tree, and later managed to force the poor officer to claim that nothing of that nature happened. The future leader should also keep a close dialog with the employees of the state media machines like Rupavahini and ITN, because except for a corrupt few at the top, majority employees truly love the country and are concerned about the status quo. It is only that their hands are tied. Nothing can be a substitute for village level pocket meetings. Invest in some infrastructure like computers, Internet access, and projectors, so that you can hold frequent Skype meetings with village level groups without having to expose yourself to danger too much. Remember, Rajapaksa’s go to the village with more than 600 elite commandos around them, and you do not.

4) The Leader of the Opposition: Many do not realize that the position of the leader of the opposition can be a very good holiday package in wrong hands. Do people know that the Leader of the Opposition enjoys a luxury maintenance budget, VIP treatment in airports, paid foreign travel, a fabulous recreation quota, and other perks, on taxpayers’ money? President Rajapaksa has been so generous with the treatment offered to the current Leader of the Opposition that this position has virtually become the ministerial post of “opposition affairs and intelligence services” with the duties of detecting early any emerging threat from an alternative leadership to the President and himself. Any future leader from the opposition has to counter this situation. My recommendation as a voter is to start afresh. Be critical of the past mistakes done by your own party that would take the playground away from the duo. The more you try to defend your past, the more trumps you give the Rajapaksa’s to nurture the above paranoia, be it UNP, JVP or TNA. The other advantage of such openness is that voters like us will notice you as one with courage and judgment to take the country in a new path.

5) Local relevance and international recognition: The Rajapaksa’s always play the local relevance card that the past UNP or JVP did not have, well of course with the exception of D. S. Senanayake era. In fact, the Rajapaksa’s are not as locally relevant as they may claim to be, but are well aware of the weaknesses of the thought process of rural people of Sri Lanka. It is only that they have mastered the art of exploiting them. The truth is that Rajapaksa family has better ties and investments in the US than most branded pro-West UNP’ers. The Rajapaksa’s have hired local ultra-Nationalistic parties like the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU), and mouth pieces like Wimal Weerawansa, fake leftists like Vasudeva Nanayakkara, to give cover to the Rajapaksa’s to play this duel role – “villager”, “anti-West savior” for locals, and the progressive “investor”, “collaborator”, and “citizen” in the US. A future leader from the opposition should patiently dissect this fabric of rogues to open up the eyes of the voters.

To do all these, you have about three years. I thought of writing this because I think three years is enough to patiently plan and act. But please keep in mind that voters like us will not choose you as a leader if you do not show good signs of leadership now. For instance, the current opposition leader will never win my vote. If such lethargy becomes the norm of the leadership of the country, Sri Lanka will never be able to exploit the grand opportunities of the 21^st century, by changing the course of Sri Lanka’s human rights record, notion of citizenship, respect for the independence of the judiciary and rule of law.

Case Against Mohan Pieris’ CJ Appointment Fixed Before Three Judges Despite Motion For Full Bench

By Colombo Telegraph -February 5, 2013

The Supreme Court list of cases to be taken up on 06.02.2013 shows that SC (FR) 23/2013 filed by the Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) and Dr. Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu is listed as the fifth case to be taken up for support to be granted leave to proceed with the application.

Mohan Pieris

This is after a motion was filed asking that all judges of the Supreme Court sitting as a Full Bench should hear the case. Mohan Pieris, PC who now functions as the Chief Justice is named as the 6th respondent, and among the relief sought is a declaration that he cannot seek to exercise or discharge the functions of the Chief Justice, given that there is no legal, valid vacancy for that position. The lawful holder of that office (Dr. Shirani Bandaranayake) is excluded from exercising her functions.

In this situation, Constitutional law experts told The Colombo Telegraph that it would be completely improper and inappropriate for the ‘Chief Justice’ to exercise a choice as to which judges of the Supreme Court should hear the case. The sole option that would not cast suspicion and the appearance that justice is not done, is for all judges of the Supreme Court to be required and permitted to hear the case, without leaving out any judges. They emphasized that the 6th respondent should not have no part whatsoever of a discretionary nature to play in the hearing of this case in which he has a clear personal interest.

However, according to the list, the case is due to be taken up on 05.02.2013 before Justice Shiranee Tilakewardane, Justice S. I. Imam and Justice Priyasath Dep (PC). This means not only that a choice of judges has been made, but also that Justice Shiranee Tilakewardane who suddenly attended the controversial and widely condemned proceedings before the Parliamentary Select Committee appointed for the impeachment of Dr. Bandaranayake and gave evidence against Dr. Bandaranayake would preside over the case when it is taken up tomorrow (06.02.2013). Dr. Bandaranayake and her lawyers had complained to the Appeal Court that evidence was led in this way, after they were clearly informed by the Parliamentary Select Committee that no oral evidence of witnesses would be taken and in their absence.

A constitutional law expert contacted by The Colombo Telegraph for his views, said “It is a cardinal principle of the rule of law that justice must not only done, but must also be seen to be done. It remains to be seen whether justice is (or can be) done in the current scenario, with the 18th Amendment and the threat of a farcical impeachment without any due process being meted out as was done to Dr. Bandaranayake. But at the moment it certainly cannot be said that justice is seen to be done.”

WikiLeaks: Dhanapala’s Gloomier Assessment Is More Accurate Than Rajapaksa’s – US

By Colombo Telegraph -February 5, 2013

“The different assessments offered by the Prime Minister and Dhanapala are colored by their different areas of expertise. Rajapakse generally has good insights into the domestic political front, while Dhanapala is better informed on the peace process. We are inclined to view Dhanapala’s gloomier assessment as, unfortunately, the more accurate.” the US Embassy Colombo informed Washington.

Jayantha Dhanapala

A Leaked ‘Confidential’ US diplomatic cable, dated September 15, 2004, updated the Secretary of State regarding and a meeting Ambassador Jeffrey J. Lunstead had with Mahinda Rajapaksa and Peace Secretariat head Jayantha Dhanapala . The Colombo Telegraph found the related leaked cable from the WikiLeaks database. The cable is signed by the US Ambassador to Colombo Jeffrey J. Lunstead.

The ambassador wrote; “The longer the hiatus between talks, the more time for sticking points to emerge, for the President’s maneuvering space to narrow, and for positions to harden. While the PM’s reasoning that the JVP will not quit the government may be on target, that doesn’t mean that the JVP will not continue militating against dialogue and undermining the atmosphere for compromise. The President is in a box, hemmed in by the Tigers on one side, chauvinist Sinhalese politics on the other, and the Norwegian facilitators–at least in Dhanapala’s view–watching unhelpfully from the sidelines. Without some kind of signal from the LTTE, it will be difficult for her to break the impasse alone. It seems doubtful, however, that the Norwegian visit will provide that impetus.”

“Dhanapala’s suggestion that the Tigers might be motivated through contact with the Tamil diaspora seems to us a good one. The Tigers are holding a major meeting in Switzerland at the end of the month which many Tamil expats will attend. Department may wish to contact Rudrakumaran and other Tamil contacts likely to attend to pass on a message. That message would be similar to our most recent public statements: theTigers need to change their behavior. If they do, they can move along the path to legitimacy.” ambassador Lunstead further wrote.

Read cable below for further details;

Monday, February 4, 2013

65th Independence Day celebrations today in Trinco

Published : 12:00 am February 4, 2013

Lanka will today celebrate 65 years of independence from British colonial rule in 1948 with pomp and pageantry in Trincomalee in the Eastern Province.
The 65th Independence Day celebrations will be held under the patronage of President Mahinda Rajapaksa at Fort Fredrick in Trincomalee.
This year’s celebration will be held under the theme ‘Prosperous Tomorrow – Glorious Motherland’.
The Government has called upon public and State sector institutions to hoist the National Flag to mark the 65th Independence Day.
Army Spokesperson Brigadier Ruwan Wanigasooriya said around 4,000 security forces personnel would participate in the Independence Day celebrations

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Several roads in Trincomalee town were closed yesterday due to rehearsals for the Independence Day celebrations, Police Headquarters said. Ahead of celebrations, the President on Sunday declared open the renovated old Dutch Navy Commissioner’s housing complex. The historic 17th century building renovated with the funding of Rs. 75 million from the Netherlands will later be converted into a naval and maritime museum.
A series of mega development projects have been completed in the Eastern Province under the Deyata Kirula exhibition, which was organised to coincide with Independence Day.
The massive development exhibition, held annually since 2006 to coincide with Independence Day celebrations on 4 February, has been postponed this year since construction got delayed due to the adverse weather that prevailed earlier in the region. The exhibition, held in rural areas with the aim to develop those areas, is now scheduled to be held from 23 to 29 March in Ampara in the Eastern Province. The President is scheduled to tour Batticaloa on Tuesday to inspect development projects in the area.
Prime Minister D.M. Jayaratne will also attend the Independence Day celebrations, the Government Information Department said.

Sri Lanka Tamil party urges UNHRC to take stern action against government

Mon, Feb 4, 2013
Feb 03, Colombo: Sri Lanka's main Tamil political party Tamil National Alliance (TNA) expects the United nations Human Rights council (UNHRC) to take "stern action" against the Ari Lankan government for the delay in implementing the recommendations of Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) .
The failure of the Sri Lankan government to adhere to the UN resolution adapted by the UNHRC at its 14th session in March 2012 in Geneva will come under focus at the 22nd session scheduled to begin later this month, the Tamil party said.
"In the 22nd sessions due to commence on the 25th of February 2013, this failure of the GOSL (Government of Sri Lanka) will come under focus and we hope stern action will be taken to promote justice, accountability and reconciliation," a TNA delegation presently visiting South Africa said in a statement.
The five-member TNA delegation (TNA) is in South Africa at an invitation from South African political parties to discuss Sri Lanka's ethnic issue and share the South African experience in Conflict Resolution and Truth and Reconciliation.
The Tamil party speaking of the progress of negotiations with the Sri Lankan government to reach a political solution to the ethnic issue blamed the government for the deadlock in the discussions between the two parties.
The TNA accused the government of refusing to consider the proposals offered by the TNA while the government has repeatedly asked the TNA to join the Parliamentary Select Committee appointed to work out a solution for the ethnic issue.
The party said it offered five proposals to the government and once consensus is reached between the TNA and the government on certain substantive issues, the TNA would join the Parliamentary Select Committee.
"While the talks are deadlocked, the GOSL aggressively continues with its agenda of militarily subjugating the Tamil People and materially altering the demography of the North East of Sri Lanka," the TNA further said.
Clarifying that the current engagement with the South African initiative is not a process they have commenced with the Sri Lankan government, the Tamil delegation insisted that appropriate action at the UNHRC is "absolutely necessary" to persuade the government to comply with the UN resolution and to "discontinue with its harmful agenda against the Tamil People of Sri Lanka."
The TNA delegation to South Africa was headed by party leader R. Sampanthan and comprised Jaffna District Parliamentarian, Mavai Senathirajah, MPs M.A. Sumanthiran, Selvam Adaikalanathan and Suresh Premachandran.