We Are Witnessing Murderers Associated With The Regime Walking Scot-Free

By Mangala Samaraweera -February 27, 2013 

Mangala Samaraweera MP

It was indeed saddening to hear of the savage beating of Mr. Asela Waidyalankara by a group of goons led by a Ministerial Son. While incidents of violence between young people are not unusual, the level of impunity enjoyed by a privileged few and the blatant double standards applied by those supposed to uphold the rule of law in such instances are no doubt unique to the ‘Miracle of Asia.’

This is not the first time Ministerial offspring have acted with such highhandedness nor will it unfortunately be the last. What is important to note is that these are not isolated incidents but part of a culture of impunity that prevail in this country. The family that rules and those who surround them relentlessly use their political and economic power to subjugate others. In a country where the highest judicial officer has been impeached through an illegal process and where senior police officers are ridiculed and humiliated for doing their jobs on a daily basis it is not a surprise that this fate has befallen the son of a respectable senior Police officer. Sri Lanka is a country today that incarcerates its victorious army commander and relegates the nation’s fourth citizen and legitimate Chief Justice to the dustbin of history. With political puppets at the helm of Sri Lanka’s judicial system, what justice can a police official’s son expect when faced with arrogant political power?

The impunity with which Asela Waidyalankara’s assailants have acted and the fact that they continue to get away with their brutal behaviour is also a good lesson for all senior police officials in the country like DIG Waidyalankara. It is a chilling reminder of the fact that despite the rhetoric about war heroes and the forces, when it comes down to the wire, your Secretary of Defence will betray and abandon you if it is a choice between consolidating political power and safeguarding the men who serve under him.

This ugly incident once again reminds us of the humiliation and suffering that ordinary citizens, especially the youth undergo on a daily basis at the hands of ministerial brats and other hangers on of the regime. Though the ruling regime preaches a bright future for youth all they have delivered for the young people of this country is depression and humiliation. While a few privileged sons are racing cars in Colombo, launching satellites at state expense and beating up respectable members of the public, ordinary young men and women are desperately seeking some means to uplift themselves.

We have witnessed murderers associated with the regime walking scot-free, Ministers and their henchmen killing opponents without facing the consequences of the law, senior police officers being transferred on the whims of politicians and senior public servants are insulted by uneducated mouthpieces of the regime singing for their supper.

It is clear by the haste on the part of the police, clearly acting with orders from above, to release MinisterSirisena’s son and the dirty dozen, despite the Government’s recent legislative victory to extend the detention period for a suspect in police custody that the new laws will only be applicable to the regime’s political opponents. At this rate, Sri Lanka may as well have two separate legal systems: one to protect the regime and its loyalists and the other for the rest of the citizenry.

Therefore it should not be a surprise to anyone that those who assaulted Mr. Asela Waidyalanka have been freed on police bail. A man who acted as any respectable husband would have in the wake of a bunch of drunken goons harassing his wife is in hospital today, while his assailants are roaming free. Until we wake up and see the lawless jungle Sri Lankan has become there is no hope of justice for any one of us. This is Sri Lanka’s current tragedy. The plight of young Mr. Waidyalankara is not unique to him, but a symbol of our collective fate in a country bereft of justice and law.

The messages from senior UK Politicians for the GTF 3rd Anniversry Conference at the UK Parliament

Prime Minister David Camoron-Wednesday, 27 February 2013

I am very pleased  to send my best wishes to today's event, the Global Tamil Forum's 3rd Anniversary conference. See his letter below.

Rt. Hon. Mr Nick Clegg MP – Deputy Prime Minister

Minister

Rt. Hon. Mr David Milliband MP – Former Foreign Secretary

Rt. Hon Mr Douglas Alexander MP – Shadow Foreign Secretary

Rt. Hon Mr Ed Davey MP – Secretary of State for Energy

It is now almost four years since the end of the armed conflict in Sri Lanka. Following the terrible events of those last months of the war, we all hoped that credible accountability and reconciliation processes would be put in place to enable long-lasting peace to take root on the island. These hopes have not been fulfilled.

United Nations institutions – including bodies mandated by the Secretary-General, international human rights groups and Channel 4 News have all revealed, and continue to expose, evidence that war crimes and crimes against humanity were committed by both sides during the war. However, there has been no credible, domestic investigation into the conflict and the victims and their families – many of whom are Tamils – deserve justice. It is for these reasons that I support the establishment of an independent, international inquiry into the conduct of the war.

Pictures of GTF conference now taking place in the UK Parliament

 

 

UK Deportation Flight To Include Tamil Women & Men Who Say They Were Raped & Sexually Abused

By Frances Harrison -February 27, 2013 

Frances Harrison

Among a group of about fifty asylum seekers due to be deported from Britain to Sri Lanka on Thursday afternoon is a young woman who’s already been subjected tosexual abuse in custody and has been declared a suicide risk. Doctors who’ve examined the asylum seeker have declared her unfit to travel because of the risk she will try to kill herself again.

The woman, who was a student in Britain, says she was detained on a visit to Sri Lanka in 2011 and taken to a police station in the capital. There she describes being beaten, kicked, striped naked, burnt with cigarette butts several times on her thighs and back and having her head put inside a plastic bag full of chilli powder, before being made to sign a statement in a language she couldn’t understand. She says her interrogators wanted information about members of the Tamil diaspora and her brother who had been a member of the Tamil Tiger rebel group, defeated militarily by the Sri Lankan army in 2009.

Court documents describe this woman as very distressed and tearful, with persistent nightmares. A  letter from a forensic specialist confirms she has eight burn marks on her body, which she says were made by the lit cigarettes.

Kulasegaram Geetharthanan of Jein Solicitors, which is representing some of the cases due for return, said among those facing deportation were at least two women and two men who’d been raped as well as another woman who’d suffered sexual abuse.

On Tuesday Human Rights Watch issued a shocking report detailing seventy-five cases of rape in Sri Lanka – mostly by the security forces and significant numbers well after the end of the country’s civil war. Since this data was gathered from among asylum seekers, the likelihood is this only represents the tip of the iceberg since most women are unable to flee the country. Among the cases cited  by Human Rights Watch were two Tamils who’d been deported from Britain and then said they’d been subjected to sexual abuse upon return to Sri Lanka.

For more information see ch4 blog & The Independent

Courtesy Still Counting The Dead

24 Hours To Stop Flight To Hell – Sign The Petition Urge Campaigners

By Colombo Telegraph -

“Tomorrow 65 Tamil refugees will be deported from the UK back to Sri Lanka. This is despite a report published yesterday which showed that Tamils who are forcibly returned are often raped – and that we know this happened in two cases from the UK” says the Sri Lanka Campaign. 

They urged people to sign the petition below which is created by an anonymous anti-deportation campaigner

In 24 hours, a flight will take nearly 65 people into a potential torture chamber in Sri Lanka. A few have managed to get their deportation postponed through the courts – and if we all raise a massive outcry now, we can ground this whole charter plane!

Torture of Tamils is rife in Sri Lanka, despite the civil war having ended in 2009. The UK Border Agency has given asylum to a few Sri Lankan nationals who have reached the UK after being tortured. Yet the Agency is now trying to expel this unlucky 65 as fast as possible – before a tribunal ruling which might allow them to stay.

If we politicise their plight we can help to keep them in the UK until their case is fully heard.

Time is ticking — let’s tell Home Secretary Theresa May to stop this week’s deportations to Sri Lanka. When 20,000 of us sign, we can work with leading Sri Lankan activists in the UK to protest outside the Home Office and demand a meeting with the Home Secretary. Sign now and share widely!

Sign the petition here 24 hours to stop flight to hell

Related posts;

UK Deportation Flight To Include Tamil Women & Men Who Say They Were Raped & Sexually Abused

Video: Sri Lanka – Rape Of Tamil Detainees

Sri Lanka Security Forces Rape, Torture Tamil Detainees – HRW

Video: US ‘disappointed’ with SL - Blake

Wednesday, 27 February 2013
US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, Robert Blake said the US was ‘disappointed’ about Sri Lanka’s failure to address several issues including the implementation of the LLRC action plan.

Mr. Blake told the US House Foreign Affairs Committee, Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific on Tuesday that, “I must say progress thus far on implementing the LLRC action plan has been slow and we’ve been disappointed as you say that the government has not proceeded so far with elections for the Northern Provincial Council four years after the end of the war.” - See more at: http://www.dailymirror.lk/news/26031-us-disappointed-with-sl-blake.html#sthash.yBAszPmy.dpuf

Following are some of the answers given to the subcommittee:
I’ve been working on Sri Lanka now for six years and know the country extremely well and consider myself a friend of the country and a supporter of the country and at the end of the conflict as you know there were many questions about the number of civilians that were killed at the very end of the conflict, an independent UN panel estimated between 10,000- 40,000 innocent civilians may have been killed.

Nonetheless the United States decided that we would support a domestic probe that is a Sri Lankan domestic process to try to get to the bottom of that and to investigate that and to develop what is now called a Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission process.

But we did so with the understanding Mr. Chairman that there would be rapid progress towards reconciliation and accountability, and I must say progress thus far on implementing the LLRC action plan has been slow and we’ve been disappointed as you say that the government has not proceeded so far with elections for the Northern Provincial Council four years after the end of the war, we’ve been disappointed that there hasn’t been a conclusion of the dialogue between the Tamil National Alliance – the umbrella groups, the Tamil groups as well as the TNA dialogue with the government on devolution and we’ve been disappointed that there has been some backward movement on democracy, as you say, things like the 13th amendment and the recent impeachment of Sri Lanka’s Chief Justice.

So for that reason last year we supported a resolution in the UN Human Rights Council to put additional pressure on Sri Lanka to implement its own LLRC report, we did so with the support of countries like India and a large majority of other countries in the HRC. I think there is good support thus far to have another vote this year to continue to urge Sri Lanka to implement its own report and that’s why we are pursuing that again this year.

Video: The Newshour Debate On Balachandran Killing: Dr. Subramanian Swamy And Dr.Ezhilan Naganathan

By Colombo Telegraph -February 27, 2013 

In a debate moderated by TIMES NOW’s Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami, panelists — Dr. Subramanian Swamy, President, Janta party and Dr.Ezhilan Naganathan, Founder, Youth.org — discuss why, when there is photographic proof that the Sri Lankan Army killed Prabhakaran’s son, can’t President Rajapaksa apologise and if a 12-year-old is killed pointblank for being the LTTE chief’s son, can the Lankan Army be allowed to get away.

WikiLeaks: Tamils In SL And Tamil Diaspora Split Over War Crimes Accountability – US

By Colombo Telegraph -February 27, 2013

“There have been a few tentative steps on accountability for crimes allegedly committed by Sri Lankan troops and civilian officials during the war with the LTTE. President Rajapaksa named a committee to make recommendations to him on the U.S. incidents report by April, and candidateFonseka has discussed privately the formation of some form of ‘truth and reconciliation’ commission. Otherwise, accountability has not been a high-profile issue — including for Tamils in Sri Lanka. While Tamils have told us they would like to see some form of accountability, they have been pragmatic in what they can expect and have focused instead on securing greater rights and freedoms, resolving the IDP question, and improving economic prospects in the war-ravaged and former LTTE-occupied areas. Indeed, while they wanted to keep the issue alive for possible future action, Tamil politicians with whom we spoke in Colombo, Jaffna, and elsewhere said now was not time and that pushing hard on the issue would make them ‘vulnerable.’” the US Embassy Colombo informed Washington.

The Colombo Telegraph found the related leaked cable from the WikiLeaks database. The cable is classified as “SECRET” and analysed the issues relates to accountability and the Tamil perspective.  The cable was written on January 15, 2010 by the US Ambassador to Colombo, Patricia A. Butenis.

Placing a comment Butenis wrote; “Accountability is clearly an issue of importance for the ultimate political and moral health of Sri Lankan society. There is an obvious split, however, between the Tamil diaspora and Tamils in Sri Lanka on how and when to address the issue. While we understand the former would like to see the issue as an immediate top-priority issue, most Tamils in Sri Lanka appear to think it is both unrealistic and counter-productive to push the issue too aggressively now. While Tamil leaders are very vocal and committed to national reconciliation and creating a political system more equitable to all ethnic communities, they believe themselves vulnerable to political or even physical attack if they raise the issue of accountability publicly, and common Tamils appear focused on more immediate economic and social concerns. A few have suggested to us that while they cannot address the issue, they would like to see the international community push it. Such an approach, however, would seem to play into the super-heated campaign rhetoric of Rajapaksa and his allies that there is an international conspiracy against Sri Lanka and its ‘war heroes.’”

Read the cable below for further details;

Related posts to this cable;

WikiLeaks: Sampanthan Doesn’t Discuss ‘War Crimes’ Out Of Fear

WikiLeaks: ‘GoSL War Crimes Is The Most Difficult Issue On Our Bilateral Agenda’ – US

Khurshid says accountability must for rights violations in Sri Lanka

PTI
New Delhi, February 27, 2013

in the wake of fresh allegations of rights violations against ethnic Tamils in Sri Lanka, India on Wednesday said there should be accountability for such issues but remained evasive on the position it will take at the UN on a resolution against that country.

External affairs minister Salman Khurshid made it clear that India would not intervene directly in Sri Lanka's sovereign affairs even as members in the Rajya Sabha expressed serious concern over the situation there and demanded an independent credible probe into the killing of LTTE chief Prabhakaran's 12-year-old son Balachandran.

DMK, a key UPA constituent, said it has lost faith in the government on this and its members staged a walkout along with those from AIADMK and Left, dissatisfied with Khurshid's reply to the debate on the plight of Tamils in Sri Lanka.

"We are totally and utterly committed to the outcome that must ensure equality, dignity, justice for the Tamil people of Sri Lanka," Khurshid said, sharing concerns expressed by members cutting across party lines.

On the recent allegation about Balachandran being killed in cold blood by the Sri Lankan forces, he said India cannot "adjudicate" about the truth behind the incident and apportion the responsibility on anybody for the "very moving, very tragic, very sad" incident.

"That is why we are engaging with Sri Lanka... Accountability should be there...Whether it should be imposed from outside or come from within... Honestly speaking, accountability is necessary, accountability is inevitable but accountability must come from within," the minister said.

"There is no future unless there is reconciliation, there is no future unless there is accountability," he said but added that India cannot impose a timeline on Sri Lanka for it.

Responding to demands by members that India should vote with the US resolution in the UN against Sri Lanka on it, he said, "What point we make in the UN can't foreclose today. We will make position keeping this debate in mind. After taking position we will disclose here..."

As members repeatedly sought to know the position of the Government of India on the resolution, Khurshid said it depended upon the actions taken by Sri Lanka.

"If Sri Lanka is able to show there is movement forward, there will be one conclusion, if Sri Lanka is not able to show there is movement forward, there will be another conclusion," Khurshid said during the debate.

The debate also saw members raising demands like disallowing Sri Lankan President to visit India and even sending Indian troops there again to check the alleged "genocide" and "ethnic cleansing" of Tamils in that country.

As some members including AIADMK's V Maitreyan objected to Khurshid describing Sri Lanka as a friendly country, the minister said, "We may have differences, pain, disappointment, anger and anguish but we should not be saying that Sri Lanka is an enemy country. It is not."

Seeking to allay apprehensions of Sri Lanka government trying to skirt implementing the 13th amendment of its Constitution regarding the devolution of powers to Tamils, the minister said Indian government has been assured time and again that the 13th amendment is the foundation stone of the resolution of the Sri Lankan problem.

"We have been continuously and repeatedly told that there is no reason to believe that the 13th amendment will be diluted...Within the range of diplomacy and foreign relation affairs, we have been assured time and again that the 13th amendment is the foundation stone for Sri Lanka," he said but acknowledged there are different views there on it.

As CPI's D Raja wanted a categorical assurance from Khurshid that Sri Lanka will not ignore the 13th amendment, he said, "I cannot give assurance about what another government will do."

The minister said he wanted to reiterate the commitment of this House, Government and people to see the end of hostilities and do "what can be done to compensate for the enormous amount of suffering" the Sri Lankan Tamils underwent.

"Government is of the view that the end of the conflict in Sri Lanka provided a unique opportunity to pursue a lasting political settlement within the framework of a united Sri Lanka, acceptable to all communities in Sri Lanka including Tamils," he said.