The Sinkhole That Is Rajapaksa Rule

By Tisaranee Gunasekara -March 3, 2013 

“Nemesis, the goddess of measure and not of revenge, keeps watch. All those who overstep the limits are pitilessly punished by her” - Albert Camus (Helen’s Exile)

A former journalist paying a call on President Rajapaksa in the dawn hours reportedly found him standing on his head.  Upon inquiry, the President replied, “We have done so many good things. The opposition cannot see any of them. So I stand on my head to see how I could see the country in that position” (The Sunday Times – 10.2.2013).

The mystery of why the Rajapaksas are doing what they are doing is now resolved: they see the world upside down. From their particular vantage-point inflation is deflation, corruption honesty, despotism democracy, injustice justice, lawlessness lawfulness; their permissible would be our forbidden, their morality our outrage.

Standing on his head, Mahinda Rajapaksa probably sees nothing wrong/dangerous in the Bodu Bala Sena(BBS) antics. The BBS’ lay and ordained musclemen are motoring around invading, intervening and arresting at will. The police have been reduced to acting as escorts to these ‘shock troops’, as they move about dispensing ‘vigilante-justice’.

Only those favoured by the Rajapaksas can act with such total impunity.

The BBS’s Maharagama Declaration reads like a recipe for politico-economic-social disaster. For instance, it wants Lankan workers in the Middle East brought back. Is the BBS capable of finding the returned workers jobs with liveable-wages? Or are they to swell the rank of ill-paid domestics and uniformed cannon-fodder? Will the BBS fill the mammoth foreign exchange gap caused by the loss of these middle-eastern earnings?

Fortunately the demented ignoramuses who run the BBS do not have to worry about such life-and-death issues. Plus in the Temple Trees they have an extremely receptive ear. A key BBS demand is an end to birth control among Sinhalese. (Opposing birth-control is a stance common to fanatics of all religions, especially those with secular ambitions and need the numbers voters or foot-soldiers.) After his February powwow with the BBS, the President ordered an immediate stop to birth-control operations in government hospitals. Budget Proposals for 2011 included the payment of Rs.100,000/- to military families on the birth of a third child. In the 2012 budget, this allowance was extended to the police. Since the military, and to a slightly lesser extent the police, is predominantly Sinhala-Buddhist, this policy measure is obviously aimed at increasing Sinhala/Buddhist birth rate, a common desideratum of the Rajapaksas and the BBS. The time when the government euthanizesSri Lanka’s extremely commendable birth-control programme may not be far away.

The thorny issues of how these extra Sinhala-Buddhists mouths can be fed, bodies clothed/sheltered and brains educated does not seem to matter in the topsy-turvy universe inhabited by the Rajapaksas and the BBS.

Unintelligent Governance

There is intelligent governance and there is unintelligent governance. Believing that the subjective can override the objective, ad infinitum, is unintelligent governance. Believing in one’s own hyperbolic propaganda and acting according to that belief is unintelligent governance.

But unintelligent would be intelligent in the upside-down world of the Rajapaksas.

From his upended position, the President must be seeing a crisis-free economy. This vantage point probably explains the Rajapaksa incapacity to grasp even the basics of the dismal science. A sensible government would have pumped money into building an oil refinery thereby reducing the outlay on oil imports and reducing the need for price increases. But for the upended Rajapaksas, airports which can be named after them matter more.

Standing on his head, the President probably sees as perfectly kosher the horrendously callous manner in which Tamils were treated during and after the Fourth Eelam War. In his topsy-turvy world, all Tamils have a Tiger-stripe or two, devolution is separation by another name and human rights is a Western-conspiracy.

In the upside-down world of the Rajapaksas, the impeachment would seem an exercise in justice and fair-play. Shirani Bandaranayake is not a Tiger, or even a Tamil. She is a Sinhalese and a Buddhist, and Sri Lanka’s first female chief justice whose husband was a favoured Rajapaksa-acolyte. Yet, when she refused to violate the constitution to promote Rajapaksa interests, the Siblings treated her as if she was a terrorist in judicial regalia, a threat to the nation and the people.

Standing on his head, the President must be regarding the impeachment as a necessary deed, well done. Already the advantages of imposing an acolyte of Gotabhaya Rajapaksa atop the judiciary are becoming apparent. A bench headed by Mohan Pieris had given the green light to the Defence Secretary’s Slave Island Development Project “and vacated the earlier order stating that the status quo pertaining to the matter to be maintained subject to variation in respect of valuation of property. The Chief Justice emphasizing the urgency of developing the city and upgrading the living standards of the under-served warned all parties concerned with the issue to ‘refrain from violence whatsoever or else perpetrators of such acts will be visited by very severe action’” (Ministry of Defence – 28.2.2013). The order not only enables mass evictions; it will also turn into a criminal any citizen who tries to resist this colossal injustice (Incidentally the ‘development project’ will be implemented by the Indian conglomerate TATA; it is with such economic bribes the Rajapaksas hope to neutralise Delhi).

The world’s understandable horror at the way Sri Lanka’s fourth citizen was treated cannot but seem a conspiracy in the President’s topsy-turvy eyes.

For decades, Vellupillai Pirapaharan got away with every outrage he committed, from the murder of opponents/dissidents to child conscription. With each outrage he got away with, he grew bolder and his sense of his own impunity became stronger. What he did not realise was that someday the cumulative effect of the horrors he committed in the name of Tamil liberation will tip the international scales against him. In the end the world not only turned its collective back on the Tiger leader; it also ignored the plight of the Tamil people.

The Rajapaksas seem to be cursed with the same blind-spot. They too will get away with much, for many more years, before the world does anything more than pass resolutions – and perhaps prick the Rajapaksas’Hambantota Commonwealth bubble. Clearly the Siblings’ upended brains cannot realise how embarrassing it would be for some Commonwealth leaders to be seen endorsing a regime which hounded its chief justice out of office. During the Cold War, Western leaders coddled, wined and dined a long line of third world despots in the name of democracy. Such hypocrisies still happen, but only if you have a lot of oil, like Saudi Arabiaor is a frontier state in the struggle against ‘Islamic terrorism’, like Afghanistan.

This, perhaps, is the perverted logic behind the BBS’ Rajapaksa-enabled campaign to incite a ‘Muslim conflict’.

The Rajapaksas, with their unintelligent governance is creating a gargantuan sink-hole which can submergeSri Lanka. In the Siblings’ upended vision, a sink-hole would look like a summit. And they will plumb the depths, exultingly, believing that they are scaling the heights.

That day-of-reckoning may not be close-at-hand. But when it comes, do we want to go down with the Rajapaksas?

Permanent forces camp at Kokkuthoduvai. Task commence in 15 acres land

Saturday , 02 March 2013

Military has commenced in constructing a permanent camp by confiscating 15 acres of land at Kokkuthoduvaai north, 14th division locality was notified by the area people to “Udayan” press.

The land belonging to Forest Department is constructed for a permanent forces camp, for which activities have commenced.

Three years have gone after the end of war, and still new permanent forces camps are getting erected in the north and military are extensively engaged.

Kokkuthoduvaai north 14th division locality, in the main road of Trincomalee Mullaitheevu, a new permanent forces camp is constructed. Through bulldozers, the forest is cleared and the camp is getting erected.

The roofing granted by Chinese government is utilized for the forces camp construction.

The assignments begun yesterday is according to locality people.

DPL strategies fail; Govt. loses friends and makes more enemies

• UNHRC sessions make Sri Lanka a focal point in world affairs
• �US takes stronger stance on HR and rule-of-law issues
• �Piqued Presidential spokespersons and ambassador attack the Sunday Times Political Column

By Our Political Editor

Just over two weeks ago, Anuradha K. Herath, Director (International Media) at the President’s Office gave some gratuitous advice to editors and media practitioners in the country. They should use more than one source for a story, she said, and added that it was a big problem in “the Sri Lankan media”.�The Sunday Times (Political Commentary) of February 10 reported her learned remarks. As we pointed out, if mistakes are made they are corrected. If denials are issued, the facts are placed. The cause for her “official decree” was a news report that Sri Lanka had rejected a US request to send troops to Afghanistan. And who had reported on that first? The Government Department of Information. Little wonder, we had to observe that the right hand did not know what the left did.

On the Monday that followed, Herath was on the phone complaining over the references made to her. Not that they were wrong. She declared she had been “pulled up” and told to speak to the Sunday Times. In a later exchange of SMS she reacted even more angrily than before. She said she would have to deal with “the Sunday Times officially”. It did not take long for her to carry out her threat to “deal officially”, though surreptitiously. Last Sunday, she and Ravinatha Aryasinha, Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to the UN in Geneva, were the duo behind an editorialised statement against the Sunday Times over last week’s political commentary. They had won approval of the higher-ups to proceed. It was distributed under the name of Mohan Samaranayake, whose onetime paymaster was the UN system.He now plays the dual role as Spokesperson for the President and Chairman of Rupavahini, the state TV broadcaster. To others in diplomatic missions and selected foreign correspondents, Herath eagerly sent it by e-mail.
The statement was not sent to the Sunday Times. Neither does it address any specific issues nor contradict any specific facts in the column. Perhaps, those who issued it knew the answer they would get. It only singles out the “political column”. The contents of the statement are akin to a mere venting of piqued feelings, both on the part of Herath and Aryasinha so, there is nothing to respond to its contents. What seems to have touched a raw nerve was the reference in the column last week saying that Aryasinha had objected to Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe coming to Geneva for the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) sessions.

The President’s Spokesman’s statement was played over and over in the State media because, after all, it was a statement from the President’s Media Spokesman. That seems the new order of the day to deal with the media if unpalatable facts or views hurt those in officialdom. How serious one is to take statements issued by the new team of Media Spokesmen/women of the President is of course, a different matter.

Focus on Geneva

The issues at the UN Human Rights Council, currently in session, continue to be in focus. Having originally decided to field a low key delegation, the Government changed its mind at the eleventh hour. Just three days before the Council sessions began, President Rajapaksa asked Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe who is also his Special Envoy on Human Rights to head the country’s delegation. Earlier, it was decided to leave Sri Lanka’s destiny in the hands of Ambassador Aryasinha. The Ministry of External Affairs liked it that way too. Clearly, the President didn’t place much confidence in Aryasinha.

Besides Minister Samarasinghe and his personal secretary, there is a ten member delegation from Colombo. They are six from the Attorney General’s Department – Suhada Gamlath (Additional Solicitor General), Shamindra Fernando (Deputy Solicitor General), Buveneka Aluvihare (Deputy Solicitor General), Janaka Silva (Deputy Solicitor General) and Nerin Pulle, (Senior State Counsel); Ministry of External Affairs – Maduka Wickremarachchi and Dilini Goonasekera. The current Sri Lanka delegation is in marked contrast to a contingent of more than 50 who were present last year.

Though relatively junior in their service, both officials from the EAM function as Assistant Directors in the UN Division of the Ministry of External Affairs. Wickremarachchi, a former Sinhala journalist, has served under Ambassador Aryasinha for a year whilst Goonasekera was recruited to the Foreign Service only a year ago. Ambassador Aryasinha had asked for a senior military official to be on hand in Geneva. The request, however, was turned down by the Ministry of Defence. The UNHRC sessions in Geneva are easily one of the most important events for Sri Lanka. Yet, the absence of top rung EAM officials including its Secretary, Additional Secretary, Director General, Directors both senior and junior, Deputy Directors was the talking point in the corridors of the EAM. Only one EAM official, Shashikala Premawardene (now attached to the MoD) attended the Council sessions on Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in September last year. It is another clear indication that the EAM has lost focus on the issues confronting the country, or was not supporting Minister Samarasinghe in this national task, or both.

There has been a marked shift in Sri Lanka delegation’s strategy this week. Earlier, diplomatic overtures were made to the United States through different channels to ‘water down’ its second resolution on Sri Lanka. This was through countries friendly with the US. The other was the consultations Ambassador Aryasinha had with his American counterpart Eileen Chamberlain Donahue in Geneva. However, this week, the Sri Lanka delegation has taken a step backward from this approach. Instead, some lobbying is under way to persuade friendly member nations on the UNHRC to back Sri Lanka’s cause. Yet, a Sri Lankan diplomatic source in Geneva said yesterday that the country was unlikely to seek a vote when the resolution comes up, most likely on March 21. There was a fear that the result might be worse than the last time.

The same source added that the United States was bringing “enormous pressure” on member countries of the Human Rights Council to support its second resolution. Ahead of the formal presentation of the resolution, the US delegation to Geneva is expected to consult members of the Council in what is called an informal metting. The Sri Lanka delegation will be on hand to obtain a first-hand account of the contents of the new finalised resolution. The latest draft was revealed exclusively last week in the Sunday Times (Political Commentary).

Testing the waters

The only official task for Minister Samarasinghe, named delegation leader at the last moment, was to address the high level segment of the Council on Wednesday. Thereafter, he was busy conducting one-on-one meetings with heads of delegations over what one Sri Lanka diplomat said was to “test the waters”. He said yesterday, “We want to find out what each country thinks of the resolution.” Whilst mnisters are allowed 20 minutes speaking time from the rostrum, heads of missions leading delegations are entitled to only two minutes. That was another reason that made the government despatch Samarasinghe. Other than foreign and justice ministers of some countries, the only minister with a different portfolio (Plantation Industries and President’s Special Envoy on Human Rights) attending the Council sessions is Minister Samarasinghe.

In his speech, Samarasinghe left out all references to the United States or to its latest resolution. Whilst the former may be to avoid a ‘confrontational’ approach, the latter is on the grounds that the US resolution has not yet been presented formally at the Council. Samarasinghe said “��on the alleged lack of Government implementation of the interim recommendations and that the National Plan of Action (NPoA) deals with only selected recommendations of the LLRC, I wish to inform this Council that some of the recommendations were already being addressed, including through the National Human Rights Action Plan. They have not been reflected in the NPoA. Further it may be noted that the NPoA is an evolving process�..”

On the subject of reconciliation, he noted that “the proposed Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC), the Government is of the view, is the most appropriate forum on this matter since constitutional reforms need a two-thirds majority and a broad national consensus�.”

He also charged that “remnants of the terrorist organisation remain very active in some countries in the Western hemisphere, where their proxies are continuing to lobby host governments, opinion makers in the media and elsewhere, to undermine the peace and reconciliation process that is on-going. It is regrettable that some part of the international community has fallen prey to these efforts based on disinformation, outright falsehood and pressure tactics. This has at times, resulted in biased and unequal treatment of Sri Lanka�”

Samarasinghe is due to return to Sri Lanka tomorrow and travel again to Geneva in nearly two weeks’ time. That is for the UPR report on Sri Lanka that will be taken up by the Human Rights Council on March 15 and remain there until the conclusion of the sessions. Thus, he will oversee matters of the Sri Lanka delegation during the most crucial period, the second US resolution.

A key feature of Samarasinghe’s speech was the strong criticism he levelled against the UN Human Rights High Commissioner Navi Pillay. Pointing out that “internationalisation of Sri Lanka’s domestic issues would hamper reconciliation efforts,” he accused Pillay of making regular “negative observations about Sri Lanka both at the UN and other forums” since May 2009. That was when troops militarily defeated Tiger guerrillas. Pillay was in the assembly hall when the remarks were made. “Her frequent comments to the media, some in close proximity to sessions of the Council, could well have the effect of influencing delegations, especially when there are resolutions contemplated. This runs counter to the detachment, objectivity and impartiality expected from the holder of such an exalted office,” Samarasinghe said.
Germany defends Pillay

Germany came to the defence of PIllay. Germany feels Sri Lanka’s criticism of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHRC) is unjustified. German Ambassador Hanns H. Schumacher said Pillaywas increasingly faced with unjust criticism.He said the statement made by Minister Samarasinghe at the UNHRC this week constituted an illustration.

In her statement to the UNHRC, US Ambassador Donahue referred to issues in only three countries – Syria, Mali and Sri Lanka. On Sri Lanka, she said, “When conflicts end, promoting reconciliation and accountability through transitional justice is imperative. To this end, Sri Lanka must promptly implement the constructive recommendations of its own Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission. It must address accountability for violations of international law and investigate allegations of war crimes. We welcome OHCHR’s recent report on Sri Lanka’s efforts and share the High Commissioner’s concern about the Government’s lack of genuine action on these issues, as well as its recent efforts to undermine the independence of the judiciary and the rule of law. We stand ready, with OHCHR, to help Sri Lanka address outstanding issues related to reconciliation, democratic governance, and accountability.”

Channel 4 adds to the woes

Various groups who are backers of the latest US resolution on Sri Lanka have pitched camp outside the venue of the Human Rights Council sessionsat Palais des Nationes. They are located in a square near the compound and are expected to take part in an anti-Sri Lanka demonstration today. This is whilst international pressure appears to be mounting in different quarters.

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay listens to Remigiusz Henczel, President of the Human Rights Council before delivering her annual report to the 22nd session of the Human Rights Council at the United Nations in Geneva REUTERS

Early this week, Ambassador Aryasinha wrote a strongly worded letter to Remigusz Achilles Henczel, President of the Human Rights Council over the screening of the Channel 4 film ‘No Fire Zone,’ in the UN premises. He wanted him to ensure that “NGOs are not facilitated in perpetrating unsubstantiated and politically motivated acts against member countries in any manner.” The letter was released by the Sri Lanka Mission to the UN in Geneva.

On Thursday, it issued a second statement saying that the Council President has, in a response to Ambassador Aryasinha, dissociated UNHCR from the screening of the film. There was a spin on the statement that was issued. In the first instance, the Council is not formally associated with side events arranged by different groups on issues that come up. This is standard procedure and not confined to Sri Lanka alone. In this case, the film was arranged by both the Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International which have received UN recognition. It was screened on Friday afternoon.

A news report in the International Herald Tribune on Friday on the screening of the event had caused some concern to the Sri Lanka delegation. It had quoted the film’s Director, CallumMacrae as saying that the screening was in “conjunction” with the Council sessions. The Sri Lanka delegation had a meeting. By then the official position of the UNHRC has been made clear. According to reports from Geneva, Minister Samarasinghe asked that Ambassador Aryasinha attend the screening of the film together with some officials from the Sri Lanka mission, make a statement there, and withdraw.

This statement was released to the delegations and the media yesterday. Aryasinha said, “The Government of Sri Lanka strongly protests against the efforts by the organisers of the event – Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and Festival du Film et Forum International hur les Droits Humains (FIFDH), to use the UN premises for the screening of this film NO FIRE ZONE: THE KILLING FIELDS OF SRI LANKA. Sri Lanka also strongly protests the perception that has been sought to be created in the public mind, through pro-LTTE websites, as well as by duping even better known media organs such as even the International Herald Tribune, which yesterday in an article quoted the Director of this film Mr.Callum Macrae as saying that the film ‘would be screened at the 22nd sessions of the Human Rights Council now under way in Geneva, where the United States planned to introduce a resolution asking Sri Lanka to investigate the allegations of the war crimes by its Army.’”

Aryasinha’s lengthy statement added “By providing a platform for the screening of this film which includes footage of dubious origin, content that is distorted and without proper sourcing and making unsubstantiated allegations, the sponsors of this event seek to tarnish the image of Sri Lanka and detract from the considerable, positive developments that have taken place in the former conflict zones, within less than four years since the guns fell silent. A consequence of this action would be the undermining of the on-going reconciliation process in Sri Lanka�.”

Another speaker at the screening event was Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian M.A. Sumanthiran. He said, “The UN Secretary General’s Panel of Experts reported that there were credible allegations that both sides to the conflict committed war crimes and crimes against humanity. It recommended an independent mechanism to investigate these alleged crimes. The TNA, as the elected representatives of the Tamil people, welcomed these recommendations and called for Independent International Investigations into the last phase of the war. We think this and the on-going violations and persecution of the Tamil population need to be investigated and stopped.

“When the Channel 4 footage was first released, the Government of Sri Lanka vigorously opposed it. Yet the government-appointed Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) too recommended that it should be investigated to ascertain its authenticity. We will co-operate with any investigation to uncover the truth. It is the truth that will lead to any kind of meaningful reconciliation and that is how the on-going violations will stop”

TNA leader, Rajavarothayam Sampanthan, though expected to travel to Geneva had decided against travelling and remained in London. Both Sampanthan and Sumanthiran had travelled to London to attend the third anniversary sessions of the Global Tamil Forum held in a building in the British Parliament. The high profile event gave the GTF propaganda mileage ahead of the UNHRC sessions. There, among other matters, Sumanthiran said, “The recent impeachment of the Chief Justice through a process that was declared to be unconstitutional by the Supreme Court demonstrates the extent to which the rule of law has broken down in Sri Lanka. The apparent disregard for democratic ideals and to the values and principles of the Commonwealth as regards Latimer House principles, which Sri Lanka is bound by, clearly demonstrates the authoritarian and dictatorial nature of the present regime�.”

Rajapaksa denies war crime charge

In a separate development, President Mahinda Rajapaksa denied the Army had killed Tiger guerrilla leader, Velupillai Prabhakaran’s son Balachandran. In an interview with an Indian newspaper, he was quoted as saying, “Had it happened, I would have known [it]. It is obvious that if somebody [from the armed forces] had done that, I must take responsibility. We completely deny it. It can’t be,” he told the newspaper. The newspaper report added: “On new evidence of wrongdoing in the final stages of the war in 2009, collated by international organisations and media outlets, Rajapaksa said that putting out such reports and videos was their job. “We must not merely look at one side. They must not merely listen to one group and the Opposition [in Sri Lanka]. So they [the Opposition] are trying to get the support of other countries to create an ‘Arab Spring’ here. That won’t happen in Sri Lanka.”

On the coming US sponsored resolution at the UNHRC,” the newspaper report added, “Mr.Rajapaksa said Jaffna was provided with all infrastructure just three years after the war ended. “Who did this within three years? Anybody who has come and seen it has talked about it positively and has commended us. Even India was “harassed” by the UNHRC over Kashmir, he said. Sri Lanka is like a volley ball. Everyone is taking turns punching it to cover up their sins.”

By co-incidence, when the screening of the film ended, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was addressing a news conference. Here a Q & A from the official transcript delivered to the media including the Sunday Times.

“Q: Thank you very much. Mr. Ban Ki-moon, I am a Mexican journalist and Vice-President of ACANU. It’s very nice to see you here in Geneva. Thank you very much for the opportunity of this press conference, on behalf of ACANU, I would like to say.

“My question is regarding Sri Lanka. We just saw an appalling film that documents atrocities perpetrated at the end of the war. Members of the civil society made a strong statement demanding the Human Rights Council to ask for an international and independent investigation. Do you support this request?

“SG: I have consistently underlined the critical importance of addressing accountability in Sri Lanka through a genuine and comprehensive national process achieving national reconciliation. Last week in New York I have received the Japanese ambassador who led the accountability assessment mission to Sri Lanka where representatives of Bangladesh, Nigeria, Rumania, Sri Lanka and a Colombia University professor participated in an observation project to Sri Lanka last December. I recognised through our meeting with them the important steps taken by the Government of Sri Lanka since the end of the conflict and strongly underlined the need to address the remaining challenges particularly on issues relating to reconciliation and accountability. I highlighted the importance for the Government of Sri Lanka to work constructively with the international community towards that end.”

Human rights issues also figured at the State Department news briefing in Washington DC last Thursday. Questions were taken by Patrick Ventrell acting Deputy Spokesperson. He was asked:”QUESTION: Just a quick one on human rights. The UN Human Rights Report and also Human Rights Watch, they are accusing Sri Lanka as far as not taking steps against the minorities or for their welfare. Does U.S. agree with that? Because Sri Lanka denies all these reports and all.

“MR. VENTRELL:So we’re reviewing this lengthy and extensive report. I understand we just got it a day or so ago. But we do note our strong concern about human rights violations and violations of international humanitarian law in Sri Lanka. And to date, the Government of Sri Lanka has not initiated a full, credible, or independent investigation into longstanding allegations of human rights abuses in Sri Lanka, including sexual assault. So we’re reviewing this particular report, but you know where we’ve been in terms of human rights in Sri Lanka and our really deep concerns.”

Sri Lanka figured again at the State Department news briefing on Friday. Here is what transpired:
“QUESTION: All right. There’s one more on Sri Lanka I have.
“MR. VENTRELL: Sure.
“QUESTION: On the resolution that you are putting up at the UN, is it different than the last? How different is it from the last year’s resolution that the U.S. has put in?
“MR. VENTRELL: Well, we do intend to, as I mentioned yesterday, sponsor resolution at the UN Human Rights Council current session. It will build on the 2012 resolution, which called on Sri Lanka to do more to promote reconciliation and accountability. The resolution will ask the Government of Sri Lanka to follow through on its own commitments to its people, including implementing the constructive recommendations from the report by Sri Lanka’s Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission. So that’s really the content of the resolution and we’re cosponsoring – we’re sponsoring it and support it.”

Rajya Sabha debate

On Thursday, the Rajya Sabha or India’s upper house also took up a “calling to attention” motion. External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid, though he “shared concerns” with those moving the motion, made clear India would not intervene directly in Sri Lanka’s sovereign affairs. He also declared that India cannot adjudicate about the truth over the reported incident where Balachandran, the 12 year old son of Tiger guerrilla leader, Velupillai Prabhakaran was killed. The remarks came after members called for an independent probe into the reported killing.

Both members of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhakam (DMK) and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhakam (AIADMK) members staged a walkout. External Affairs Minister Khurshid continued. He said accountability was necessary and it should come from within. Pointing out that there is no future unless there is reconciliation, he added that India could not impose a time line for Sri Lanka on it.

Responding to demands that India should vote with the new US resolution on Sri Lanka, Khurshid said India would take a position bearing the sentiments expressed at the debate. D. Raja of the Communist Party of India (CPI) sought a “categorical assurance” from Minister Khurshid that the Sri Lanka Government would not ignore the 13th Amendment to the Constitution.

He replied that no such assurance could be given about what another government would do. V. Maitreyan of AIADMK objected to Khurshid describing Sri Lanka as a friendly country. Sanjay Raut (Shiv Sena) said India committed a mistake in sending troops to Sri Lanka. Venkaiah Naidu (BJP) complained that the Sri Lanka Government had “failed miserably” in protecting the rights of Sri Lankan Tamils. Some members made extreme demands like banning visits to India by President Rajapaksa and sending Indian troops again to check what they called “ethnic cleansing.” Ruling Congress Party members however ignored such suggestions.

The events playing out in different world capitals make clear that Sri Lanka is very much a focal point of attention. It only means that media release diplomacy where one vies against the other or abuse by inexperienced officials tasked to build good relations with the media alone will not help the Government. If not now, at least post Geneva, there is an imperative need to have a close look at why strategies failed and Sri Lanka ended up winning more enemies and distancing friends. Needless to say, the task should begin at home by having the best professionals to do the key jobs.

GSL Under Siege In Geneva And Elsewhere, But No End In Sight To People’s Misery

By Rajan Philips -March 3, 2013 

Rajan Philips

The Sri Lankan government’s annual showdown with the UNHCR is underway in Geneva. After running around in circuses last year, the Rajapaksa government is taking a low-key approach this time hoping for anything less than the worst. The government representatives seem resigned to the fact that an updated resolution will be passed and will only try to soften the wording as far as possible. The government knows that it can live with even the worst and that the worst will not be much. The draft US resolution that has been in circulation and would likely be adopted is not punitive in intent and is procedural in scope. The trouble for the government is that it is getting locked into a procedure from which there is no easy way out; even though it is not going to be fatal the UNHCR is becoming an irremovable yoke for the government.

It is not just the UNHCR that is troubling the government. The International Crisis Group is calling for international action to stem what it calls Sri Lanka’s “Authoritarian Turn” after the war. The ICJ report highlights the collapse of the rule of law and the proliferation of official killings, kidnappings and disappearances. The Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales has published a report on the impeachment of Chief JusticeShirani Bandaranyake, prepared by Geoffrey Robertson QC, a leading Australian legal luminary. The Robertson Report exonerates Sri Lanka’s legal Chief Justice and indicts the Sri Lankan government. The report also calls upon the British government to deny British travel visas to the 117 government parliamentarians who blindly signed the impeachment motion and the seven ministers who presided over the “Star Chamber” trial of the Chief Justice, to freeze any bank account they might have in Britain, and not allow the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting to be hosted by the Sri Lankan government later this year.

While precipitous international action against the Sri Lankan government is not likely or possible, there is also no question that government is increasingly coming under a global siege. When the foreign focus was on war crimes, the Sri Lankan government dismissed it as the work of Western busybodies acting in connivance with the far flung rumps and remnants of the LTTE. It has used external detraction to consolidate its political base among the Sinhalese.

But the government cannot similarly dismiss the concerns of western governments and international agencies about the impeachment of the Chief Justice and the harassment of political opponents and human rights violations none of which have anything to do with the LTTE, or the war. The fact of the matter is that the Rajapaksa government’s postwar record on human rights, media freedom and interference with the judiciary is getting to be worse than the record of all four previous Presidents taken together.

The government won the war not in spite of the West but with help from the West and more so from India. In the West and in India there was expectation of a political settlement after the war, but not only has the government reneged on that expectation, it has also turned despotic after the war. It is the government’s reneging that has led to the insistence on war crimes investigation. Equally, it is the government’s postwar despotism that is sharpening international attention to the goings on in Sri Lanka.

The Rajapaksa government could have easily avoided being in a siege situation if it had set about implementing the LLRC recommendations honestly and sincerely from the outset. And there would be no calls to stop the Commonwealth summit being held in Sri Lanka if the President and his parliament had stopped the impeachment of Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake when it became clear that the impeachment process had no credibility either within or outside Sri Lanka.
But the government’s real undoing will not start in human rights territory but on the economic terrain. The cause for its undoing will not be international action but domestic revolt against economic hardships. The government could get away with its assaults on democracy and human rights violations if it were able to manage the economy well, create sustainable employment for the people and keep the cost of living within the means of average families. But the government is proving to be incapable of doing anything right.

Good jobs are scarce and the cost of living is increasing inexorably. Land is being confiscated and instances of mismanagement, waste and corruption in government are manifesting daily. The state management of petroleum involves more fraud than the supply of quality fuel at justifiable prices. The pricing in the energy sector is tantamount to pickpocketing the consumer to pay for the combined waste in the Electricity Board and the Petroleum Corporation. The creation of 1800 trainee positions in the Bank of Ceylon and their award to political nominees by the President at Temple Trees is not the sign of an economy that is in good shape but the symptom of one that has gone into decay without ever taking off. It also shows how what was once the flagship of Ceylonese banking is now being poked around by upstart political masters. And it further shows how the country’s public administration has been taken over by the President and all his Ministers.

SWRD, JRJ and Mahinda Rajapaksa

The Sunday Island recently carried a series of articles by Neville Jayaweera based on his conversations with the late Sir John Kotelawala on some of the mile-stone events in Sri Lankan politics from independence to the unsuccessful coup of 1962. After taking the readers through Sir John’s hilariously frank revelations, Mr. Jayaweera concluded with the proposition that of all the heads of state and heads of government Sri Lanka has had, “it has fallen on only three”, viz. SWRD Bandaranaike, JR Jayewardene and Mahinda Rajapaksa, to “decisively and irreversibly (to) change the course of Sri Lanka’s history.” Of the three path-breakers, SWRD Bandaranaike is credited with changing “irreversibly Sri Lanka’s political, social and cultural landscape”; JR Jayewardene changed the country’s economic landscape and its constitutional framework; as for Mahinda Rajapaksa, who ended the thirty year old “internal uprising” and with it the quest for a separate state, the clock of history is still ticking and Mr. Jayaweera raises the possibility that it could be Rajapaksa’s lot “to weld Sri Lanka into a single nation,” a task which neither of his path-breaking predecessors was able to accomplish.

While crediting them with changing the course of Sri Lanka’s history, Mr. Jayaweera leaves the question, whether the changes were “for good or for evil”, open. I would suggest that the changes entailed both good and evil, and how much of each would depend on the eye of the beholder. Along with good and evil, there were also unintended consequences as well as uncontrollable consequences. The seeds of the failure to “weld Sri Lanka into a single nation” were embedded in the changes to the course of history. And the task of forging future political unity will invariably involve undoing some key consequences of the earlier changes.

More importantly, in a sweeping historical comparison of Bandaranaike, Jayewardene and Rajapaksa we must not overlook the many sea changes that have taken place over the last sixty years – in politics, society, the state apparatus, as well as Sri Lanka’s relationship with the rest of the world. The governments of Bandaranaike and Jayewardene did not face a global siege situation that the present government is facing. Also, while a straight-forward Bandaranaike-Chelvanayakam Pact might have worked in 1957, and a constitutional bill such as the Thirteenth Amendment could have been enough in 1988, what it would take now to forge a nation is becoming a difficult question to answer. And the difficulty is not so much in formulating a solution as in finding the willingness to work any of the many solutions that have been proposed even while the country was limping through the war.

Apart from the differing circumstances, there is also the question of character that political leaders bring to bear in facing historic challenges. For all their many mistakes, SWRD Bandaranaike and JR Jayewardene were men of gravitas, substance and extraordinary stature. While they did damage to the political unity of the island for electoral gains, they were aware of the damage, were conscious of the need to repair that damage, and had an understanding of how the repair could be done. None of these remedying characteristics or attributes can be found in the present crop of leadership.

Neville Jayaweera is well aware of the country’s leadership void and the difference between “any third rate politician (who) can crush a rebellion” and the statesman who will need “more than military might and political cunning to produce … a new nation.” Mahinda Rajapaksa is still not that postwar statesman but he could become one, according to Mr. Jayeweera, by submitting to “a radical transformation of consciousness, values and outlook,” a transformation that “only the spirit of God can produce.” It is a moot point if the Sri Lankan President experienced such a transformational calling during his pilgrimage to the godly shrines in India. And there is no evidence of a transformational change in the President and his government that is emanating from the Sri Lankan delegation in Geneva.

Nailing genocidaires

[TamilNet, Saturday, 02 March 2013, 17:05 GMT]
When Sri Lanka is being hauled naked with alleged international crimes committed against its own Tamil citizens exposed to the rest of the world in the UN's Human Rights Council sessions in Geneva this week, two other stories of genocidaires nabbed and brought to justice in other parts of the world drew media headlines. Yvonne Basebya, 66, becomes first Dutch citizen to be convicted in Denmark for complicity in the Rwandan genocide, and the former Guatemalan president, José Efraín Ríos Montt, was ordered to stand trial in the Guatamalan national court for genocide and crimes against humanity carried out during his seventeen month dictatorship between 1982 and 1983. 

Yvonne Basebya

The Hague district court sentenced Yvonne Basebya, 66, to six years and eight months in prison for her role, the maximum available prison term at the time of the crimes. The judges said they imposed the maximum sentence "in the realisation that this punishment does not do justice to the extremely serious nature of the proven criminal acts," The Guardian reported.

José Efraín Ríos Montt

During Guatemala's thirty-six year conflict between 1960 and 1996, over 200,000 Guatemalans were killed and another 45,000 disappeared at the hands of the state's security forces. Over one-hundred thousand are believed to have perished during the scorched earth campaign carried out in the early 1980s when Rios Montt and, prior to him, Romeo Lucas García served as de facto heads of state.

The Guatamalan story is eerily similar to the alleged genocide in Sri Lanka, but unlike in Guatamala where the killings were spread out over many years, and the alleged defendant was in power for only 17 months, in Sri Lanka, the slaughter of nearly 80,000 Tamil civilians (Petrie report) under the command responsibility of Sri Lanka's president Rajapakse, took place inside five months under the glare of world's apathetic attention, Tamil activists noted.

On Monday, at Montt's trial, his lawyers presented 75 legal challenges to have the charges dismissed.His defence lawyer argued that Rios Montt was unaware of what was going on in the Ixil Triangle, was not really in control of what his subordinates were doing, could not be prosecuted because of an amnesty law, he was not physically there so he could not be responsible, and the killings took place in the heat of battle.

Following three days of testimony, the Judge ruled that there was sufficient evidence to try Rios Montt on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity for ordering fifteen massacres involving the killing of 1,771 indigenous Ixiles in the department of Quiché during his reign.

"On Monday, they moved one step closer to holding accountable those responsible for genocide and crimes against humanity," Mike Allison, professor in the Political Science department at the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania, said in his story to Al Jazeera.

Sri Lanka govt renews invitation to TNA for talks...

Friday, 01 March 2013 

The Sri Lankan government on Thursday renewed its call for the main Tamil party to join a parliamentary select committee to discuss minority issues which leads to devolving of powers to provinces 

The Government spokesman Media Minister Keheliya Rambukwella extended an open invitation to the main Tamil Party in the legislature the Tamil National Alliance (TNA ) to  join the proposed Parliamentary Select Committee to discuss power sharing.

"We invite the TNA to join the PSC as it is the only forum where we can discuss matters relating to power sharing with the participation of all stake holders. Going behind external elements is useless " the minister said

"The Parliamentary Select Committee comprised  all political parties belonging to different ethnicities to discuss an inclusive power sharing mechanism but they have so far refused to do so. We are prepared for discussions so all we can do is to ask them to participate again," said government spokesman and Media Minister Keheliya Rambukwella.

Rambukwella rejected criticism voiced by United Nations Human Rights Commissioner Navi Pillay on Monday in Geneva that the government had not pushed ahead with finding a political solution despite the end of a three decade war in 2009.

He also vehemently rejected a Human Rights Watch report accusing the military of using sexual violence against the Tamil minority. "We asked for evidence but they refused" it exposes their duplicity the minister said. (hassen)

Delegates At London Conference Call For Probe

By Easwaran Rutnam-Sunday, March 03, 2013

As the United States pushed for accountability in Sri Lanka at the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) last week, another meeting was underway in London organized by the Global Tamil Forum (GTF).

British government and opposition representatives as well as politicians and human rights advocates were among those attending the 3rd anniversary conference of the GTF at the British parliament premises.

The GTF said that calls for a full independent international investigation and a review of the decision to hold the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Colombo received cross party support from the UK members of Parliament at the conference.
GTF said that speakers after speakers from United Kingdom’s three main political parties including some Cabinet Members called for a full independent international investigation into the alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka. Some senior members of British coalition government and the opposition also called for a review of the policy of attending CHOGM in November due to be held in Sri Lanka.
Conservative Party Chairman, Grant Shapps was the Prime Minister’s representative at the conference. Earlier in his written message to the Conference brochure, the Prime Minister stated, “any peace must be based on justice and rule of law, an inclusive political settlement and reconciliation between all those affected by the war. In particular, Sri Lanka must properly investigate alleged international humanitarian and international law and that those responsible are held to account.”

Selected clips of the controversial documentary film, No Fire Zone, was previewed by the Director of the film Callum McCrae at the conference.

“There is no one who cannot be touched by these images. My Party is committed in ensuring a full credible independent investigation on the alleged war crimes committed during the end of the armed conflict by both sides,” Deputy British Prime Minister Nick Clegg said.
Leader of Tamil National Alliance R. Sampanthan delivered the keynote address at the conference, GTF said.
Sampanthan has said that recent events have shown the government has demonstrated to the world and the Tamil people that it has no political will to resolve the long-standing Tamil national question. He suggested to the international community that the talking must stop and action must begin.

Leader of the British Opposition Ed Miliband in his address to the conference called for “full independent international investigation” and said Labour will be with the Tamil people until justice is served and permanent political settlement is found. In his video message, the former Foreign Secretary, David Miliband said, “The United Kingdom and the Commonwealth Nations should find a different host for CHOGM 2013 as Colombo has failed to uphold the Commonwealth values.”

Senior Foreign Office Minister Baroness Warsi, delivering her keynote address in the absence of William Hague who is on official engagements abroad said, “The United Kingdom (UK) Government hasn’t taken a decision on the level of representation at the GHOGM” scheduled to be held in Colombo later this year.

Energy Secretary Ed Davey called for “independent international investigation” into alleged war crimes committed by both parties.
The GTF said that the statements by the British government officials showed a significant shift from the government position so far. Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Theresa Villiers, Shadow Foreign Secretary Douglas Alexander and Shadow Foreign Office Minister Kerry McCarthy also attended the event.

Alexander and McCarthy also called for a full independent international investigation and review of participation in CHOGM.
Peter Kellner, Chairman of the Royal Commonwealth Society emphasised that if Sri Lanka failed to satisfy the basic Commonwealth values, then Commonwealth Nations agreeing to hold the event in Colombo will be a disaster. Frances Harrison, Former BBC Foreign Affairs Correspondent and author of “Still Counting The Dead”, talked about the moving story of a woman gang raped by Sri Lankan security forces.

Speaking at the Conference Gordon Weiss, the former UN Spokesperson in Sri Lanka, particularly during the last three years of the war, said that what happened in Sri Lanka cannot be allowed to happen again and questioned the motives of the international community why they are not doing enough to bring to bear pressure upon the Government of Sri Lanka.

TNA MP M.A. Sumanthiran said the official position of the TNA is that the truth must be ascertained through an independent international investigation, which should also inquire into the on-going acts of persecution against the Tamil People even four years after the end of the war.
“Sadly, locally, the country has no capacity to hold any credible investigation, particularly now, with the breakdown of the independence of the judiciary. The government has also now plainly demonstrated what they are in fact capable of. A military tribunal established to inquire into these violations has concluded – hold your breath – that no violations occurred, and worse, that no person has disappeared in Sri Lanka,” he said.

GTF said that many Tamil, Sinhala and English media organizations covered the event in full, including two major television networks of India, namely NDTV and Headlines Today and BBC Radio also covered the event.

International delegates including UK Parliamentarians who spoke at the GTF conference: 
Deputy Prime Minister of GB and Leader of LibDem Party – Rt. Hon. Nick Clegg MP
Secretary of State for Energy – Rt. Hon. Edward Davey MP
Senior Minister of State for FCO – Rt. Hon. Baroness Warsi (Member of the Lords)
Opposition Leader and Leader of Labour Party – Rt. Hon. Ed Miliband MP
Shadow Foreign Secretary – Rt. Hon. Douglas Alexander MP
Rt. Hon. David Miliband, former Foreign Secretary of GB (By video)
Rt. Hon. Theresa Villiers, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Hon. Kerry McCarthy – Shadow Minister (Sri Lanka)
Chairman of All Party Parliamentary Group for Tamils – Hon. Lee Scott MP
Vice Chair of All Party Parliamentary Group for Tamils – Hon. Siobhain McDonagh MP
Treasurer of All Party Parliamentary Group for Tamils – Hon. Robert Halfman MP
LibDem Party President and APPG-T former Treasurer – Rt. Hon. Simon Hughes MP
Hon. Gareth Thomas MP – Former Minister
Comrade Yasmin Sooka – Member of the UN Panel of Experts and TRC Chairperson
Mr Erik Solheim – OECD Chairman, Peace Negotiator in the SL conflict and Former Cabinet Minister of Norwegian Govt
Mr Peter Kellner – Chairman of Royal Commonwealth Society

Prof William Schabas – World renowned Prof in International Law and Specialist in War Crimes Prosecution
Mr David Mepham – UK Director HRW – They will release their report on Sexual Violence in Sri Lanka
Ms Yolanda Foster – Amnesty International – Amnesty International will be releasing their report under Item 4 of the UNHRC at this event.

Prof Joshua Castellino – Head of Legal Faculty (Middlesex University)
Prof Elvira Dominguez Redondo – International Law
ANC International Relations Manager – Cde (Ms) Naomi Ribbon Mosholi
Mr R. Sampanthan MP – Leader of Tamil National Alliance (TNA)
Mr M. A. Sumanthiran MP – Human Rights Lawyer and TNA Member of Parliament
Mr Abdul Kader – Former Deputy General Secretary of Teachers Union in Sri Lanka
Mrs R. Iqbal – Human Rights Activist who previewed a Documentary on Women’s Plight since end of war in the Vanni, North of Sri Lanka.

Prof (Dr) Father S. J. Emmanuel – GTF President
Danny Sriskandarajah – Former Acting President of RCS and now the Secretary General of the CIVICUS
Mr Callum McCrae who previewed the documentary – No Fire Zone
Gordon Weiss – Former UN Spokesperson and author of the book “CAGE”
Ms Frances Harrison – Former BBC Journalist and author of the book
“Still Counting the Dead”

“Still Counting the Dead”