Pakistan Christians rally over Lahore attacks

Protests in Karachi after mobs ransack and torch homes in Christian area of Lahore over alleged insult against prophet.

Angry protesters threw bricks at Christian houses after setting them on fire in Lahore [AP]

10 Mar 2013  Several protests have been held in cities across Pakistan, including Karachi and Multan, hours after mobs ransacked a Christian neighbourhood in Lahore and torched dozens of homes. Mobs on Saturday caused widespread damage in the eastern Pakistani city after hearing reports that a Christian man had committed blasphemy against the Prophet Muhammad, according to a police officer. The group of Christians in Karachi said the Punjab government should have given the Christian community more protection in Lahore following the allegations of blasphemy. "It's very very sad and that's why I want to appeal to the government; please look into the matter and see also that the people who are affected, their properties are burnt," Father Peter John, from the Saint Patrick Church in Karachi, said. "They should also get some sort of compensation." Blasphemy is a serious crime in Pakistan that can carry the death penalty, but sometimes outraged residents exact their own retribution for perceived insults of the prophet. Homes ransacked On Friday night, a large crowd from a nearby mosque went to the home of the Christian man in Lahore accused of insulting the prophet, and police took the man into custody to try to pacify the crowd. Fearing for their safety, hundreds of Christian families fled the area overnight. Police said the mob returned on Saturday and began ransacking Christian homes and setting them ablaze. The police spokesperson said no one in the Christian community was hurt, but several policemen were injured when they were hit with stones as they tried to keep the crowd from storming the area. Pakistan is overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim, with Christians making up around two percent of the population.

At Columbia University’s Institute for the Study of Human Rights in Sri Lanka


Statement by:
DAVID L. PHILLIPS
Director of the Program on Peace-building and Rights

At Columbia University’s Institute for the Study of Human Rights

Presented to:

The Permanent Mission of Japan to the United Nations and UN Member States
8 March 2013

Mr. Chairman, thank you for the opportunity to present on the “Observation of the Progress of
National Reconciliation and Reconstruction in Sri Lanka,” a project organized by the
Government of Japan (GoJ) in association with Columbia University.

I was part of a fact-finding delegation to Sri Lanka, including officials from Bangladesh, Brazil,
Italy, Japan, Romania and South Africa. His Excellency Mr. Tsuneo Nishida, Permanent
Representative of Japan to the United Nations, prepared a chairman’s report based on discussions
by the delegation with the Government of Sri Lanka (GSL), the UN country team, Colombobased diplomats, Sri Lankan civil society, and members of parliament. While my statement
draws on the chairman’s report, the views expressed herein are entirely my own.

Post-war efforts by the GSL have focused on humanitarian assistance, resettlement,
reconstruction, rehabilitation, and reintegration. The GSL deserves substantial credit for progress
in these areas, including de-mining.

The GSL had an opportunity to heal the country’s wounds after decades of civil war. However, it
has failed to act with magnanimity. Reconstruction has not effectively advanced the goal of
reconciliation.

Progress with reconciliation is further undermined by the GSL's failure to conduct credible
domestic investigations of alleged violations of International Humanitarian Law (IHL). An
independent international investigation of alleged war crimes under the auspices of the United
Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNOHCHR) is necessary to
address allegations.
Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC)
A “trust deficit” exists among Sri Lankans, arising from the GSL’s inadequate efforts to
implement recommendations of the LLRC.

The LLRC final report (16 December 2011) noted, “The clear need to heal the wounds of the
past and to make recommendations to reconcile the nation by recognizing all victims of conflict,
providing redress to them, thereby promoting national unity, peace, and harmony.” The GSL
approved a National Action Plan (NAP) on 26 July 2012. However, the NAP omits many LLRC
recommendations.

- The criteria and process for deciding which recommendations would be included in the
NAP have not been explained.

- In some instances, the GSL is proceeding on the basis that it has completed tasks which
in fact are ongoing. These include investigating illegal armed groups, rehabilitating child
combatants, and prosecuting those accused of conscripting children.

- In important cases, the NAP takes a passive approach. For example, in response to LLRC
recommendation for domestic legislation to criminalize enforced or involuntary
disappearance, the NAP suggests studying the need for such legislation. In response to
the LLRC recommendation on legislation concerning the right to information, the NAP
states: “The Cabinet will decide the suitable time frame for drafting legislation.”

- The NAP assigns some issues to bodies such as the Parliamentary Select Committee
(PSC) and the Land Commission, neither of which has been established. Devolution and
power-sharing, decentralizing police powers, judicial review of legislation, and the
recommendation to sing the national anthem in both languages have been assigned to the
PSC. In total, eight items (9.150, 9.152, 9.214, 9.215, 9.228, 9.236, 9.237, and 9.277)
have been referred to the PSC. Nine items (9.126, 9.128, 9.129, 9.131, 9.132, 9.133,
9.134, 9.135 and 9.136) have been referred to the Land Commission.

- The LLRC recommends investigations of alleged violations of IHL, including incidents
of attacks on civilians (9.9 and 9.37a), disappearances of persons after they surrendered
or were arrested (9.23), and the credibility of the Channel 4 video that showed summary
execution of civilians (9.39). Rather than provide for an independent mechanism to
implement accountability recommendations of the LLRC, the NAP redefines those
initiatives as “ongoing” internal investigations, assigning them to the Ministry of Defence
(MoD).
Summary Detention

The Emergency Act was lifted in August 2011, but similar powers of summary detention are
authorized under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA). The allowable period for
administrative detention prior to seeing a magistrate was recently extended from 24 to 48 hours,
and persons can be held for up to 30 days with unlimited extensions.
Demilitarization
The GSL lifted state of emergency provisions on 30 August 2011. However, high security zones
still function in the Jaffna district. Outside of Jaffna district, many high security zones were just
converted to government-held land with no effective change in status, only name. The SLA has
recently confiscated land to build 10,000 houses in Kilinochchi. The military retains a significant

presence in the north. It is extensively involved in economic activities, such as farming and
fishing with the military. It provides free trucks to market, making civilian enterprises noncompetitive.
 Just this week, the SLA commander opened a brand new army-run shopping center
in Killinochchi. The MoD also controls the NGO and INGO registration process, performing
tasks suited for a civilian authority.
Land Claims
Land claims and property restitution in the North and East are complicated by lost and multiple
title documents issued by both the GSL and LTTE. The NAP for LLRC implementation
recommends the establishment of a Fourth Land Commission to address issues related to
property rights (within 24 months). The Commission has been established, but not implemented.
Political Dialogue
The LLRC recommends “Finding a Political Solution” (9.185); “Establishing a Power-Sharing
Mechanism” (9.235); and “Making General Progress on Devolution” (9.236). Effected
stakeholders, including the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), seek expanded powers for local
government, including police powers, and fiscal decentralization. It also seeks greater minority
and cultural rights, including expanded use of the Tamil language in local administration.

Property rights are also a priority for the TNA. The GSL and the TNA started talks in January
2011. Over 12 months, 18 meetings have been held. The TNA tabled a number of detailed and
specific proposals, to which the GSL did not respond. Government representatives did not attend
the last 3 scheduled meetings. The last round was in February 2011. Political dialogue is
stalled.
Local Elections
Local elections still have not been held in the Northern Province. Though they are proposed for
September 2013, delays in holding local elections have further undermined confidence.
Governance
Other democracy challenges include impeachment of the Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake.
Serious restrictions exist on freedom of expression. More than 600 journalists have been killed
for exposing abuses of power, crimes, and human rights violations in the past 20 years. Since
2007, 27 journalists have fled the country; only 3 have returned. Websites are blocked. Freedom
of association is restricted.

 The problem is ongoing, with protesters prohibited from leaving
Vavuniya just this week. I was told by a leading civil society group in Jaffna that they were
threatened when invited to meet our delegation. Civil society all over the island is facing
increased threats.
Accountability
The LLRC report includes recommendations on accountability, including:

- Investigation(s) into reported Deliberate Attacks in Civilians (.9.37a)

- Investigation(s) into alleged Abductions and Enforced Disappearances (9.46)

- Establishment of a Special Investigation Commission (9.51)

- Issuance of Death Certificates (9.52)

- Legal Aid and Financial as well as Mental Assistance for the families of missing persons
(9.58)

- Make Available Access of a Database of Detainees to Next of Kin (9.63)
- Access to Detainees (9.65)

The SLA and Navy have appointed Boards of Inquiry to study alleged violations and consider
the relevant LLRC recommendations. In January 2012, the SLA created a 5-person court of
inquiry headed by a Major General to investigate violations of IHL and International Human
Rights Law (IHRL). As prescribed in the NAP, the court is charged with referring cases to the
Attorney General (AG) for prosecution within 24 months. To date, no cases have been referred
to the AG.

Last year's resolution on Sri Lanka at the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) suggested that
the GSL take genuine steps on accountability.

 However, no genuine steps have been taken, as recognized in many independent reports, most recently by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). In addition, the GSL rejected 100 recommendations, many of them pertaining to accountability, during the November 2012 Universal Periodic Review (UPR) hearings at the UNHRC. The MoD has completed two reports related to alleged war crimes. One focused on the LLRC recommendations and the other on claims that the SLA was responsible for
civilian casualties at the end of the war. The first report was publicly released (15 February 2015). It dismisses suggestions of SLA involvement in disappearances, detentions and other human rights violations, calling these accusations a conspiracy of the LTTE and the West. The second report purportedly exonerates the SLA from responsibility for civilian deaths at the end
of the war.

Investigation by the MoD of its armed forces casts doubt on the objectivity of investigations,
highlighting the need for an impartial independent inquiry. In light of the GSL’s failure to
conduct credible domestic investigations, an independent international investigation of alleged
war crimes under the auspices of the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for
Human Rights (UNOHCHR) is necessary to address allegations.
Conclusion
Sri Lanka is more polarized now as a society than at any time since the end of the war in 2009.
The war is over, but conflict is ongoing. The GSL can do more to convey a “message of care”--
the intention to create a new, better, more inclusive and compassionate society-- which would
also go a long way to addressing the root causes of conflict.

The international community can help advance the goal of reconciliation by staying engaged. Its
engagement can take a variety of forms including, for example, providing foreign aid for demining, supporting programs for war-affected women and children, and assisting the GSL to
expand minority language use.

Additional efforts are needed to encourage implementation of LLRC recommendations, as well
as implementation of Sri Lanka’s commitments under the UPR. The UN should use the full of its
mechanisms to foster international cooperation, including continued engagement by the
UNHRC.

It’s About Politics And ‘Political Solution’, Yet

By N. Sathiya Moorthy-Saturday, March 09, 2013

R. Sampanthan and M. A. Sumanthiran

Ironical but true. Even as the rest of the world is supposedly fighting the case of the Tamils in Sri Lanka, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), the premier political outfit of the community, is busy fighting with itself. Or, so it seems. With the ‘ethnic issue’ and all its manifestations taken out of their hands, the TNA, now it seems, has nothing else to do than revert to the periodic internal demands for registering itself as a separate political party with the nation’s Election Commission.

According to Tamil media reports in Sri Lanka, it is once again about the post-war demand of the four non-ITAK constituents for a submerged identity in the TNA. However, the ITAK, or the ‘Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi’ – controversially translated as the ‘Federal Party’ in English by its founder, the late S. J. V. Chelvanayagam and followed by the rest – would have none of it. The party, whose election symbol, ‘House’, the TNA has adopted, would not want its dominant position compromised or diluted in anyway, either at the leadership or the cadre levels, now or ever.

This has consequences for Tamil politics in the country, as the non-ITAK components are more vociferous, particularly outside the country. The Sri Lankan Tamil Diaspora has elements that are more aligned to the LTTE’s philosophy and methodology than the ‘Gandhian ways’ of the ITAK. Translated, the one-time militant, non-ITAK partners in the TNA speak – and comprehend – this kind of Diaspora talk more than the moderates in the party and the community. The numbers are contestable, but when the chips are down, the chances are that the moderates would give way. Or, so has been the experience – hence, the perception, too.
The TNA’s discomfiture may have been god-sent for the Government, or so it seems. It is one voice less to counter as it tries to push the ghost of the LLRC Report out of the UNHRC in Geneva. It failed last year, and the odds are loaded even more heavily from the start, this time round. There is no India to blame, either, as the Indian position is more or less clear, if the new US resolution is to derive from Sri Lanka’s very own LLRC as it did the last time round.

Freedom from terrorism, not poverty

It is not the story that the ‘Sinhala nationalists’ would want to hear, back home. It is also not the story that the Government can spin around to its larger constituency in the country. For the former, the ‘war victory’ has to be followed by ‘diplomatic victories’ at every turn, every time. For the latter, the ‘war victory’ is already in the past. They have got freedom from LTTE terrorism. It has come to stay. They now want freedom from poverty. It is poverty that has come to stay – not freedom.

It is in this context that the Government leadership of President Mahinda Rajapaksa has to view the emerging alliance between the traditional UNP adversary from within the larger Sinhala polity, the TNA and a host of other parties, who however do not add much by way of vote-share. For now, the Government can still breathe easy on the Geneva front, as it has nothing much or more to lose. On the home-front, too, similar is the case. Demoralised as it has been for long, and divided as it is even more than the TNA partner, the UNP has nothing to offer by way of electoral challenge to the ruling SLFP-UPFA of President Rajapaksa.

Given the curious way that electoral politics in Sri Lanka has played out in the past, more than the Opposition winning the election battle, the ruling dispensation has often lost the same to ‘anti-incumbency’. It is a ‘waiting game’ in which the Opposition – party or leader – should be there when the people are ready to vote out the Government of the day. That should also explain why the UNP is keeping itself dormant but alive. It is also why former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, a presidential hopeful who lost the race to Candidate Rajapaksa in 2005, is seen and heard sparingly. It is a political lesson that the soldier in Sarath Fonseka did not understand – and appreciate – in 2010, post-war.

What the TNA is thus playing within is a past-time that in the past has divided the community on sub-ethnic lines, based on religion and caste, elitism and egalitarianism. It is no different in the majority Sinhala-Buddhist community, but the former cannot afford the luxury that they are wont to take. That is one area that Prabhakaran failed to curb with an iron hand, not that he did not try. The inherent limitations imposed on his very leadership could not let him proceed beyond a point.

The impossibility of the LTTE even to think in terms of returning to Jaffna town after being forced out by the armed forces in the mid-nineties is not only a story of comparative men, material and methods – or, the LTTE’s concerns about the safety and security of the civilian Tamils in what is dubbed the ‘cultural capital’ of the community. In the present context, some affected stake-holders see the existing divisions within the TNA that they want cemented one way or the other, as one between ex-militants and eternal – whom they dub ‘existential – moderates. A return this to the forgotten days, pre-war.

Internal to International, and back

The Sri Lankan State may have cause for concern over this one thing – now, and ever. Independent of the politicised arguments based on ethno-nationalism of the Sinhala-Buddhist variety, the security concerns of the State are real, as different from the electoral considerations of the political class – in power or outside. These concerns however belong to another era – particularly in their conceptualisation, expression and provisions for averting the same. In the ‘IT era’, weapons alone are not computerised. Thought-processes, too, are. So are processes and products of dissemination.

The Government’s inability to interpret it correctly in the months and years after the war has meant that what was essentially an internal problem has now emerged as an international concern. The TNA and the rest of the Tamil polity and the society have little or no role in it. Or, so it seems. After a point, even the Sri Lankan Tamil Diaspora is becoming increasingly irrelevant to the global scheme. It may be good for them to feel that they are the ones calling the shots – which illusion the Sri Lankan Tamil polity, including the TNA, does not seem to have any more – and that the world is at their beck and call, and that the international messengers of bad tiding, like the Amnesty International (AI) and the Human Rights Watch (HRW) do their bidding.

The reverse may be the truth already, in the case of Sri Lanka, too. If human rights violations are the mandated concern of conscience the world over, INGOs should have been looking inwards and displaying the same vigour in matters of responsibility, accountability and R2P, or ‘right to protect’. Afghanistan may have been an ‘R2P’ case already, but who is going to protect the people there next year on, and who is going to be held responsible for that? This does not mean that ‘war crimes’ and ‘accountability issues’ in Sri Lanka should not be addressed, and sorted out for good.

It is one thing to make pulpit speeches of the kind. It is another to live with the reality. The Sri Lankan Government having lost the initiative on permanent peace, post-war, also seems to have lost it in the international arena. After all, the UNHRC resolution at Geneva this time last year did not wait for its reservations and explanations, concerns and commitments. Sri Lanka was not even a voting-member last time. It is not one this time, too. The nation went through motions of protesting, as much loudly world-wide as it had been used to do nearer home over the past decades.

In nations of the world where Sri Lanka was not a local concern in anyway, the Government made it one, trying to convince the Governments there to vote against the US motion. Sri Lanka lost the vote, but the memories of its campaign would remain in the minds of the Governments that its competent campaigners visited. With a few exceptions, it was all a cut-and-dry calculation, based not on the concerns and commitments of the affected State but and the pulls and pressures that unconnected third parties had on local Governments – for or against the US-sponsored motion. It would have been the case, whoever ruled Sri Lanka, or whichever other country that was in Sri Lanka’s place.

In the final calculation, Sri Lanka did not matter to the rest of the world. It matters only to the Sri Lankans and that too people who have chosen to stay behind as Sri Lankans. This is more so in the case of the Sri Lankan Tamils, but in the decades to come, independent of the ethnic issue that is now raging in the international arena, the Sinhalese and the Muslims too would be joining the ranks in whichever nation that still needed skills in large numbers, but who would leave their home-land politics in the home-land itself. Children of all those toiling as housemaids and factory floor assistants in the Gulf and Europe would have qualified for a transition to a new world, to begin a new beginning.

The time is still not too late for the Sri Lankan State to revisit its existing concerns, contextualising them to the emerging realities of global politics and geo-politics, as different from the accompanying geo-strategy. It is not too late either for the Government to revisit its own position on a meaningful political solution to the ethnic issue, involving power-devolution of a substantial kind – which is what the Tamils wanted, post-war, and which is what the TNA was willing to negotiate, too.

Internationalising the ethnic issue the way it has been done has its own limitations. The Tamils are bound to learn it, sooner than later. That is when they would revert back to Sri Lanka, but in ways that the Government may have thought does not exist anymore. The current campaign at the global-level would have helped ensure as much, if nothing more. It is something that the Sri Lankan Government can stall here and now – rather than waiting it out now, and warning about the future.

(The writer is the Director of the Chennai Chapter of the Observer Research Foundation, the multi-disciplinary Indian public-policy think-tank, headquartered in New Delhi. email: sathiyam54@gmail.com)

U.S. judges, Fein in oral legal battle over war-crimes immunity

[TamilNet, Saturday, 09 March 2013, 00:35 GMT]

United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia circuit judges, Friday 10:00 a.m., engaged with Tamil plaintiffs' attorney in what appeared as an intense and gripping legal battle to decide whether the "Head of State Immunity," as presumed to apply under U.S. Common Law, is trumped by the narrowly tailored Torture Victims Protection Act (TVPA), a statute that allows victims to bring a legal action on "an individual" who committed torture and/or extrajudicial killing in the Manoharan et al v. Rajapakse appeal. United States Department of Justice (DoJ) attorney argued suggesting immunity for Sri Lanka's President Rajapakse, and Patton Boggs, a D.C. Law firm representing Rajapakse, played a minor supplementary role to DoJ attorneys, in filing legal motions, and in the oral argument. 

Judge Merrick Garland

Judge Brett Kavanaugh

Judge Janice Brown

The Appellate judges Merrick Garland and Brett Kavanaugh, and the generally silent Judge Janice Brown, allowed Plaintiff-Appellant attorney Bruce Fein to continue for nearly 25 minutes exceeding the allotted time of 10 minutes in the back and forth exchange on the legal applicability of "Head of State immunity" to Rajapakse crimes.

Judges Garland and Kavanaugh leaned heavily on the Supreme Court opinion on Samantar (Samantar v. Yousuf, 130 S. Ct. 2278 (2010)) to argue that the frame work for guiding the Federal Appeals courts such as theirs was based on the dicta from the Supreme Court on the Samantar case. 

The following are the two pertinent notes from the Samantar US Supreme Court opinion on which the Judges questions were focused:

...Under the common-law doctrine of foreign sovereign immunity, see Schooner Exchange v. McFaddon, 7 Cranch 116, if the State De-partment granted a sovereign’s diplomatic request for a “suggestion of immunity,” the district court surrendered its jurisdiction...

...when a statute covers an issue previously governed by the common law, we interpret the statute with the presumption that Congress intended to retain the substance of the common law...

Judges referred to the "the Defense's contention that the District Court correctly concluded that Congress demonstrated no intent to abrogate nearly two centuries of common law head of state immunity jurisprudence."

Fein, argued that the Congress was very aware of the foreign policy implications of including "Head of States" in being accountable for the narrowly tailored TVPA which refers to torture and extra-judicial killings, and that this was not a sweeping exception to the common law which allowed State Department to intervene in Head of State matters of other types of crimes.

Fein also clarified that the "nearly two centuries of common law immunity," was not strictly correct, and that while the ATCA [Alien Tort Claims Act] is part of the Judiciary Act of 1789, only Filártiga v. Peña-Irala in 1980 offered a new conceptualization of the ATCA, ruling that the statute fell within federal-question jurisdiction and hence allowed cause of action arising from the Statute.

Mitchel Berger of Patton Boggs began the Defendant-Appellee Rajapakse side argument for the allocated 5-minutes. The Judges, in mid-stream, advised that since Mr Berger was drawing on the U.S. Government's discretionary intervention to suggest immunity, acceding his time to the U.S. Government attorney would be more efficient and Mr Berger obliged.

Adam C. Jed, a Yale graduate who studied law at Harvard, and won a Gates Scholarship to study mathematics in Cambridge, UK, then argued for the U.S. Government. Mr. Jed said that the local common law is settled on the Head of State immunity when suggested by the State Department, and asked if the judges had questions on U.S.'s legal position. 

Attorneys Adam Butschek and Mark Potkewitz assisted in preparing for the legal argument for the Tamil plaintiffs, Fein said. 

Mr Potkewitz commented at the end of the oral argument that the judges appeared averse to go against the U.S. Government and are not likely to extend the exception to the Samantar dicta, and that Judge Garland's suggestion during the argument, that legal decision to add an exception to the common law immunity for international crimes, perhaps, rests with the Supreme Court, indicates where the Court is headed," Potkewitz said.

"We intend to start working immediately on the Writ of Certiorari to the Supreme Court of the United States," Potkewitz said.

Chennai students on fast over Lankan Tamil issue

[ Saturday, 09 March 2013, 02:16.01 PM GMT +05:30 ]

Eight students of a Chennai city-based college have embarked on a ‘fast-unto-death’ over the Sri Lankan Tamils issue.

The Press Trust of India reported that the students of the Loyola College, who began the fast yesterday, are staging the protest to press their seven-point charter of demands including an independent probe against Colombo for alleged war crimes, referendum on Tamil Eelam (separate homeland for Tamils) and slapping economic sanctions on Sri Lanka, protester Joe Britto said. Students from various colleges supports the second day of the  hunger strike. This protest currenlty unday at Koyampedu bus stop. Meanwhile, DMK President M. Karunanidhi has appealed to the students to withdraw their fast and resort to other peaceful means of protest. “Considering that life of every youth is important, the students should immediately withdraw their hunger strike and instead involve themselves in other peaceful means of protest,” he said in a statement. MDMK chief Vaiko met the students today and expressed his support to them. Speaking to media Vaiko went on to say, I thorughly condemns police activity taken against these students. 19 students have sacrificed their lives for Lankan freem struggle. MDMK always ready to support these students, leader said.

SRI LANKA: The Recent Suppression of Tamil Voice at Vavuniya

March 9, 2013

A group of hundreds of relatives of the disappeared from Mannar and Vavuniya were to arrive on the 5th night in Colombo by buses to share with the people in the South their pathetic stories about the disappearances of their loved ones during and after the war, and then to present a petition to the UN to request its intervention to trace them.

But, when they were about to leave that night the police and the army in Vavuniya in a joint operation have stepped in and pushed the people inside the Church premises and ordered the drivers to take back their buses.

These are families who have been weeping, crying and going from place to place for years now, searching for information about their sons or daughters or husbands who have disappeared.

‘Stop Disappearances and Abductions’ ~ [International day against disappearances] ~ in Vavuniya – 2012 August 30, Organized by-Committee for Investigation of the Disappeared - pic: courtesy of: VikalpaSL

The disappearance of Fr. Francis Joseph and several others after surrendering to the army in 2009 is just one instance that has not been accounted for. It was reported to the ‘Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission’, by the Bishop of Mannar, quoting government records that 146,679 were missing. Up to now there is nobody found to be accountable for these disappearances. All these facts point to a serious lack of accountability.

There is an entire section in the LLRC report (Chapter 9/43-60) on the question of disappearances. Had the government carried out those recommendations of the LLRC such as appointing an independent commissioner on disappearances, the need to come to Colombo to handover a petition to the UN would not have arisen.

Such being the situation, what could be the purpose of this unjust act of blocking their coming to Colombo? Were these relatives of the disappeared who were mostly elderly women planning to carry out criminal activities? They were only planning to do something which is quite in accordance with the constitution of the country, to find a solution to a problem which is causing innermost pain to them every moment of their lives.

The constitution of Sri Lanka in no 14 has guaranteed the freedom of Speech, assembly, association, movement. It is precisely those actions that this group has been intending to carry out: to speak about and express the sufferings they were subject to by moving to another place in the country and holding a peaceful assembly.

The freedom to engage in such activities have also been guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (No 13) which says, ‘everyone has the right to freedom of movement’ and article 19 says, ‘everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers’.

Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association (No. 20). In spite of all these assurances still the law enforcing authorities, perhaps in consultation with the political authorities, have decided that such freedoms should not be allowed to the citizens.
The authorities want to instill fear in people and prevent them from raising their voices on issues of human rights. Can this happen in a democratic country? On the 20th December 2006, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, which affirmed the rights of the victims' families to seek reparations, to know about the whereabouts of those victims and to demand the facts regarding the disappearance of their loved ones.

Accordingly, the acts of forced disappearances and abductions have been recognized as ‘crimes’. The victims could have been either forcefully detained or tortured or even killed. According to the UN, such acts have been recognized as ‘crimes against humanity’. Hence, the relatives have a right to know the truth.

Those who carry out such abductions and forced disappearances do so with the specific purpose of denying to the relatives of the disappeared their legitimate rights and of silencing them and preventing any dissent against the powers that be. These illegitimate acts are directed towards every opponent and critic and also create a sense of uncertainty and fear in the wider community.

The suppression of the free movement of citizens in Vavuniya is an instance of a violation of freedom of the citizens of this country amounting to an infringement on fundamental rights to free expression and movement. It has in fact proved again that the government does not care for the rights of the people.

One the one hand, this undemocratic act of the government only contradicts what the President’s special representative told the audience at Geneva. On the other hand, this inhumane act reflects what is being echoed in Geneva by the human rights activists.

The denial of this basic freedom proves that a situation of normalcy does not prevail in the areas of North and East. The freedom to move about and the freedom of expression have been denied. Further this incident well orchestrates the suppression of Tamil people that is going on in the North. Surely one cannot expect an autocrat or the military rule to respect the principles of democracy and human rights.

Jaffna – From Shell Shock To Culture Shock

By Fr. Sarath Iddamalgoda -

March 9, 2013 

Fr. Sarath Iddamalgoda

A group of hundreds of relatives of the disappeared from Mannar and Vavuniya were to arrive on the 5^th night in Colombo by buses to share with the people in the South their pathetic stories about the disappearances of their loved ones during and after the war, and then to present a petition to the UN to request its intervention to trace them.

But, when they were about to leave that night the police and the army in Vavuniya in a joint operation have stepped in and pushed the people inside the Church premises and ordered the drivers to take back their buses.

These are families who have been weeping, crying and going from place to place for years now, searching for information about their sons or daughters or husbands who have disappeared

The disappearance of Fr. Francis Joseph and several others after surrendering to the army in 2009 is just one instance that has not been accounted for. It was reported to the ‘Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission’, by the Bishop of Mannar, quoting government records that 146,679 were missing. Up to now there is nobody found to be accountable for these disappearances. All these facts point to a serious lack of accountability.

There is an entire section in the LLRC report (Chapter 9/43-60) on the question of disappearances. Had the government carried out those recommendations of the LLRC such as appointing an independent commissioner on disappearances, the need to come to Colombo to handover a petition to the UN would not have arisen.

Such being the situation, what could be the purpose of this unjust act of blocking their coming to Colombo? Were these relatives of the disappeared who were mostly elderly women planning to carry out criminal activities? They were only planning to do something which is quite in accordance with the constitution of the country, to find a solution to a problem which is causing innermost pain to them every moment of their lives.

The constitution of Sri Lanka in no 14 has guaranteed the freedom of Speech, assembly, association, movement. It is precisely those actions that this group has been intending to carry out: to speak about and express the sufferings they were subject to by moving to another place in the country and holding a peaceful assembly.

The freedom to engage in such activities have also been guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (No 13) which says, ‘everyone has the right to freedom of movement’ and article 19 says, ‘everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers’.

Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association (No. 20). In spite of all these assurances still the law enforcing authorities, perhaps in consultation with the political authorities, have decided that such freedoms should not be allowed to the citizens.

The authorities want to instill fear in people and prevent them from raising their voices on issues of human rights. Can this happen in a democratic country? On the 20th December 2006, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, which affirmed the rights of the victims’ families to seek reparations, to know about the whereabouts of those victims and to demand the facts regarding the disappearance of their loved ones.

Accordingly, the acts of forced disappearances and abductions have been recognized as ‘crimes’. The victims could have been either forcefully detained or tortured or even killed.  According to the UN, such acts have been recognized as ‘crimes against humanity’. Hence, the relatives have a right to know the truth.

Those who carry out such abductions and forced disappearances do so with the specific purpose of denying to the relatives of the disappeared their legitimate rights and of silencing them and preventing any dissent against the powers that be. These illegitimate acts are directed towards every opponent and critic and also create a sense of uncertainty and fear in the wider community.

The suppression of the free movement of citizens in Vavuniya is an instance of a violation of freedom of the citizens of this country amounting to an infringement on fundamental rights to free expression and movement. It has in fact proved again that the government does not care for the rights of the people.

One the one hand, this undemocratic act of the government only contradicts what the President’s special representative told the audience at Geneva. On the other hand, this inhumane act reflects what is being echoed in Geneva by the human rights activists.

The denial of this basic freedom proves that a situation of normalcy does not prevail in the areas of North and East. The freedom to move about and the freedom of expression have been denied. Further this incident well orchestrates the suppression of Tamil people that is going on in the North. Surely one cannot expect an autocrat or the military rule to respect the principles of democracy and human rights.

Sri Lanka lets itself down

ON DECEMBER 14, 2012, the 54 nations of the Commonwealth adopted a charter setting out for the first time the fundamental values underpinning their affiliation. Alongside democracy, human rights, peace and security, and freedom of expression are certain principles Australians tend to take for granted: the separation of powers, the rule of law and good governance. None stands alone. Democracy and human rights cannot be fully achieved if the rule of law is not in place; democracy cannot stand if there is not freedom of expression; and without good governance all the rest falls away.

Before Commonwealth leaders meet in Sri Lanka later this year, it would be wise to consider whether the host nation is abiding by the principles of the charter. We raise this matter because Sri Lanka's parliament in January, defying a ruling of the nation's highest court, voted to remove the chief justice. The action has been damned by the International Commission of Jurists, the Commonwealth Magistrates' and Judges' Association, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and Canada, which will boycott the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting if it is held in Colombo.

Foreign Minister Bob Carr says it is better to foster dialogue rather than isolate a nation over its human rights record, and he vows Australia will go to CHOGM. The Age believes Sri Lankans already have endured far too much. Australia needs to stop mollycoddling the Sri Lankan government and issue a rebuke, letting it know we are appalled by repeated failures on human rights.

Will ask Sri Lanka for independent probe of rights violations, says External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid

March 8, 2013 

Describing the plight of Tamils in Sri Lanka as a “huge humanitarian problem” which has to end, External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said on Thursday that Indiawill ask the island nation’s government for an independent inquiry into allegations of human rights violations there.

While stating that “a closure must be brought to the 27 years of violence”, Khurshid said that “that India does not want to play policeman or big brother”.

“I know there are reports of human rights violations. The bottom line remains that devolution (of power) which gives legitimate rights must be implemented in toto,” he asserted in the Lok Sabha while replying to a debate on the plight of Tamils in Sri Lanka.

“This is a huge humanitarian problem. This involves both the heart and the head. Our generation has to find a solution to this problem. This has gone on for too long,” Khurshid said adding: “This has to end. It is clear that we want all citizens, particularly Tamils, to live as participants in a democracy.”
DMK member TR Baalu initiated the debate.
“There should be reconciliation after acceptance of truth. We have to always move beyond the past. This is not our problem alone. All of India shares your (MPs) concern,” said Khurshid.
He also said that India will frame its response to the upcoming UN human rights panel vote on Sri Lanka on the basis of parliamentarians’ views, the ground situation and the record of the island nation’s government.
“We want the Tamils in Sri Lanka to live with dignity and equal participation as citizens and closure for the wounds of the past,” said Khurshid. “We need to look beyond the past.”
India also needs to strengthen diplomatic steps to avoid a war in the island nation, said the minister while stating that he shared the sense of the house.
The answer failed to satisfy the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and AIADMK, DMK and MDMK members who walked out of the Lok Sabha.
In his speech, Bharatiya Janata Party’s Yashwant Sinha said: “We are not in favour of carving out a separate nation out of Sri Lanka but are totally against the butchering of the Tamils.”
He demanded that the Indian government ensure that there is an impartial inquiry into the genocide by Sri Lankanforces during the war against the LTTE, while India should take a lead in drafting the resolution in the vote on Sri Lanka at the United Nations Human Rights Council.
Sinha said that his party’s demand was that the government ensure that the Sri Lankan government pulls out its army from northern parts of the country and implements the recommendations of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC).
AIADMK member M Thambi Durai said: “The UN report says more than 4,000 Tamil civilians were killed in Sri Lanka.India should have taken serious action and stopped this genocide”.
Trinamool Congress’ Saugata Roy said the Sri Lankan issue should be treated at par with war crimes in other countries.
DMK‘s Dayanidhi Maran raised the issue of the reported killing of the son of the slain LTTE chief V Prabhakaran.
“They are out closest neighbor and they have misbehaved. We are asking that India should ensure that there is an international inquiry.”
Dissatisfied with Khurshid’s response, Baalu asked him to enumerate particular steps which the government would take, to which Khurshid replied: “What we do must be clear and effective. How we do it must be left to the government.”
At this, all Tamil parties including the AIADMK and DMK staged a walkout.
Khurshid said that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had in 2009 announced Rs.500 crore for relief in Sri Lanka and several projects on rail and housing have been completed in the northern parts of the island nation as part of welfare project undertaken by New Delhi.
Intervening at this point, Sinha said: “Tractors and houses cannot establish human rights for Tamils in Sri Lanka.”
The BJP also walked at this point stating that the minister had not answered their questions.
In Chennai, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa alleged that Sri Lanka was attempting to “intimidate” India into not raising its voice against the atrocities on Tamils in that country by arresting Indian fishermen.
In a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, she said: “The incidents of arrests of fishermen and the recent firing should be viewed as an indirect attempt to intimidate the Government of India and browbeat it into not raising its voice against Sri Lankan atrocities on innocent Sri Lankan Tamilians in the international fora.”

A good Buddhist would definitely possess religions tolerance if he is truly following the footsteps of Lord Buddha.

Friday, 08 March 2013 

The organization of Bodhu Bala Sena along with some other international forces functions with the ulterior motive of destroying the harmony and unity of the Sinhala Muslim community in Sri Lanka. And also plans to take away the rights enjoyed by the Muslim community so far. It should be noted that the acts of Bodhu Bala Sena would create an unhealthy situation in our motherland. This organization which functions on the base of racism, and ethnic cleansing would make the future of the country questionable.

In a situation full of turmoil, and international pressure, the government should consider the current happenings and nip the organizations like Bodhu Bala Sena in the bud, but the government playing the role of silent observer shocks and saddens many muslims today.

It is evident that the recently developed diplomatic connections with Israel had led to the birth of Bodhu Bala Sena. It should be noted that there is no country which progressed due to the relationships of they developed with countries like Norway and Israel, it’s crystal clear that Sri Lanka too would face the same fate as the countries which are suffering due to the connections with Israel.

The creation of Bodhu Bala Sena would have been the secret plan of anti srilanka, so as to breakdown the support of Muslim countries for Sri Lanka in Geneva’s Human rights council.

It is pathetic to evince that the government has forgotten the reason for the thirty years of war and also its mission after the war. The government has completely forgotten its role, also that it is composed of multi ethnic groups, and has been caught in the trap laid by groups which works for their selfish interests. Anyway the rise of Bodhu Bala Sena would definitely be the cause for the downfall of the newly built nation after the destruction of the thirty years of war.

We, who are influenced by the English in each and every aspect are affected in every manner by them, they did not only grant us independence, along with it the communal hatred, which till date has its ill consequences. Moreover, we who are following the footsteps of the English in political, cultural, why even education, are made to take decisions based on their ideologies even today, these are the very reason for the racial conflicts in our country. They planted the seed for it, and it grew into a tree which even cut, the root stays alive.

The International forces try to rouse the Buddhist extremists on the basis that Sri Lanka is a Buddhist country. Even President Mahindha Rajapakse, who claims to be the leader of the Buddhists would realize whether the crown he is wearing is made out of gold or thorns in times to come.

President Mahindha Rajapakse. Being a politician does not object to the activities of the Bodhu Bala Sena for the sole reason of getting the Buddhist votes. Anyway he having round table conferences with these racists is a thing of ridicule, it should be put a stop, if not the future of our generation is questionable. Moreover an ideal Buddhist would never function in a way which is harmful to the other religions. A good Buddhist would definitely possess religions tolerance if he is truly following the footsteps of Lord Buddha. Further, Bodhu Bala Sena, who are claiming to be perfect Buddhists are reality following the footsteps of dictators like Hitler and Mussolini.

-Muise Wahabdeen from Geneva-

Commander of BBS is Gotabhaya

SATURDAY, 09 MARCH 2013 

There had been unconfirmed talk that the acts of Bodhu Bala Sena were directed by a stalwart of the Rajapaksa family and this stalwart was none other than Defense Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa.

Confirming these talks the Defense Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa is scheduled to declare open a Bodhu Bala Sena training center today at 9.00 a.m. built with the mediation of the President of this organization Ven. Kirama Wimalajothy Thera.

‘Meth Sevana’ affiliated to Nedimala Buddhist Cultural Center founded by Michael Kerstetter, a German national, would be converted into a training center of Bodhu Bala Sena. An office of the Bodhu Bala Sena has been established here and this too would be declared open today.

65 Cases Of Attacks On Places Of Religious Worship In Post–War Sri Lanka

By Centre for Policy Alternatives -

While the post-war context offered an opportunity for consolidating peace and reconciliation, and there have been a number of positive developments, there are increasing concerns relating to violence targeting places of worship and religious intolerance. Since the end of the war there have been high-profile incidents such as the attack on the Mosque in Dambulla in April 2012, however other incidents, have received little or no public and media attention. This has resulted in a limited understanding of the scale and nature of these incidents.

attack on the Mosque in Dambulla

This report documents incidents of attacks on places of worship in Sri Lanka since the end of the war in May 2009 and discusses the broader context of such attacks. The report lists 65 cases of attacks on religious places of worship between May 2009 and January 2013. Direct attacks have been reported from all provinces of Sri Lanka, making clear that the threat is not restricted to particular areas. Most of the reported incidents were from the Western province (16), followed by the Eastern province (12), the Southern province (11) and the North-Western province (9).

Although the list cannot claim to be comprehensive, it offers a starting point to document attacks against places of worship of the four main religions practiced in the country. The lack of coverage by the media and other civil society groups, lack of consistent documentation by religious groups, and the cautiousness of religious and civil society groups to engage on this issue were key obstacles in the compiling of this list. This report attempts to address this information gap so as to provide a more comprehensive picture of the ground situation and thereby raise public awareness and increase the understanding of policy makers on this issue.

While the numbers do provide some sense of the scale of the violence, it is important to make distinctions in terms of the nature of violence in each of these incidents. The majority of these cases are against Christian places of worship, mostly against non-traditional churches and there are also a number of attacks on Muslim places of worship. The 65 attacks can be categorized into three main types: inter-communal attacks, intra-religious violence, and robbery.

Mahara mosque - vandalised

In terms of inter-communal attacks the bulk of incidents where perpetrators have been identified, are instances of Sinhala Buddhist attacks on other religious communities’ places of worship. While in the majority of incidents the perpetrators have not been prosecuted and in a number of cases are unidentified, in others there are allegations against groups and individuals who are believed to be responsible. A significant proportion of the attacks incidents relating to Buddhist and Hindu religious places are cases of theft and vandalism. There have also been several incidents of intra-religious violence between denominations of all the religious communities apart from the Hindu community.

While a number of the incidents appear to be isolated, in a number of cases it is evident that the attacks on an individual religious place is sometimes preceded by other forms of violence, threats and intimidation against a religious community in a specific area. The report attempts to include some of these incidents, including violence against clergy, protests against religious practices and hate speech, in order to provide a context to the attacks. The continuing acts of violence against places of religious worship coupled with a culture of intolerance are threatening to undermine efforts to consolidate peace, emphasising the need for immediate action by all actors, especially the Government.

Read the full report from here.