Why India is right on Sri Lanka

April 9, 2013

Unless Colombo treats its Tamil citizens with dignity and respect, New Delhi will continue to have limited options

Contemporary developments in India’s foreign policy are often based on perceptions and not facts, views divorced from reality and political advocacy based on make-believe. India’s approach to the Sri Lankan issue and the vote in the Human Rights Council (HRC) is a case in point. Variously described as a “new low” in our foreign policy and a departure from our principled stand of not supporting country-specific resolutions, this line of reasoning suggests that New Delhi should ignore and overrule regional sentiment, and refrain from meddling in the affairs of a small neighbour.

But first the perceptions. One, in 1956, Solomon West Ridgeway Dias (SWRD) Bandaranaike enacted the Sinhala-Only Act. Sections of the political class in New Delhi welcomed it as a consolidation of anti-imperialist sentiment. Years later, Tamils were reduced to second-class citizens and discrimination against them became systemic and entrenched. The anti-Tamil riots in Colombo following the killing of the Mayor of Jaffna, Alfred Duriappa, by a young Prabhakaran led to the rise of Tamil militancy.

Perception two. Most Sinhalese believe, with good reason, that Tamil militancy, rightly viewed by them as terrorism, would not have succeeded in tearing apart Sri Lanka’s social fabric but for support from across the Palk Straits. Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi sought course correction. He committed India to Sri Lanka’s unity and territorial integrity. This fundamental turnaround meant India would not support the break-up of Sri Lanka and would also cooperate in ending support for terrorism. There was, however, one caveat. The Tamil minority should be treated with dignity and as equal citizens of a multicultural, multiple-ethnic and multilingual Sri Lanka.

Resolution was minimalist

What the international community is questioning is not Colombo’s military operation against the LTTE or human rights violations but specific allegations of war crimes during the last 100 days of military operations. Visual documentation, including by triumphant victors on mobile phones has contributed to Sri Lanka’s discomfort. The U.S. resolution at the 19th session of the HRC in March 2012 was a minimalist attempt. It invited Sri Lanka to act on the recommendations of its own Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission. Even the assistance to be made available to Colombo would have been provided only with its consent. Instead, Colombo chose to prevaricate. With additional visual documentation being made available, the demand for accountability gained momentum. Having voted in favour of the resolution in March 2012, it was next to impossible for India to change its vote in March 2013, especially in the absence of any credible steps by Sri Lanka towards reconciliation and devolution.

It is both in India’s and Sri Lanka’s interest to get a full and final closure on these allegations. Not to do so will allow the wounds to fester.

Sovereignty has never succeeded in providing a cover against genocide, ethnic cleansing, war crimes and crimes against humanity. To suggest that India does not support country-specific resolutions is absurd. Even more, that we have a principled position on this. In any perceived clash between principle and national interest, it is invariably the latter that is invoked and reigns supreme. Following the anti-Tamil riots in Colombo in 1983, New Delhi mustered sufficient courage to spearhead a resolution against Sri Lanka in the Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and the Protection of Minorities. We vote in favour of similar resolutions against Israel only because they deal with gross and systematic violations of human rights of Palestinian people in the occupied territories. We have never hesitated to take a position on country-specific resolutions whether on DPRK or Iran, whenever our national interest so demanded.

To dismiss popular sentiment in Tamil Nadu as the machinations of politicians is both a misreading of the situation and a recipe for disaster. Why should Sri Lanka not be held to account for not respecting understandings given bilaterally to India, such as those of April-May 2009?

13th Amendment

India can be against the LTTE but cannot afford to be against the Tamils. The problem both amongst the Tamil minority in Sri Lanka and large sections of the Tamil population in India, is that the LTTE successfully manipulated Tamil opinion by projecting itself as the only physical shield against Sinhala repression. We cannot wish away this sentiment. The only safeguard for the Tamils in Sri Lanka is delivery of the promised devolution based on the 13th Amendment.

Both the AIADMK and the DMK, along with the smaller parties in Tamil Nadu are on the same page on the Sri Lanka issue. The problem will continue to fester till Colombo has a genuine change of heart. Recent signals are anything but encouraging. Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa said on March 27, 2013: “Could we afford to have a provincial administration here, which pointed a gun at the national leadership at the drop of a hat? We don’t want to be at the mercy of scheming provincial administrations.” Let alone the 13th Amendment, the Defence Secretary seems to be suggesting the winding up of provincial councils altogether!

Notwithstanding assurances to India, the “Brothers” running Sri Lanka appear to have no intention to move on political reconciliation and devolution. This “majoritarianism” in total disregard of respecting and protecting the rights of minorities is a narrow and calibrated political strategy designed to safeguard Sinhalese parliamentary strength. The recent attacks on the Muslim trading community in the heart of Colombo by fanatic Sinhalese, allegedly led by Buddhist monks are manifestations of similar callous and cynical disregard for the rights of linguistic, religious and cultural minorities. India did the right thing by supporting the resolution on war crimes.

Exaggerated projections of Chinese inroads and influence are a bogey which many of our smaller neighbours periodically try on us. Apart from being practical, the Chinese are also hard headed. They will pursue economic and commercial opportunity irrespective of the way India votes. Support for Sri Lanka up to 2012 did not prevent them from looking for commercial projects there. Many Chinese successes have something to do with our own inability to deliver commercial projects on time.

Sri Lanka is not only India’s closest neighbour but in many respects, culturally and emotionally, closest to us as well. We need to reach out to Colombo and drive home the point that it takes two to tango. Relations between countries are assiduously built, step by step. Unless Colombo treats its Tamil citizens with dignity and respect, New Delhi will continue to have limited options. If New Delhi continues to base its choices on misplaced “perceptions” and does not effectively articulate the reasons for the choices so made, only brickbats will be in the offing.

(Hardeep S. Puri is India’s former Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York.)

Number of Lankan runaway maids swells

2013-04-09  The number of runaway housemaids seeking refuge at Sri Lankan missions has doubled following the government's enforcement of the Nitaqat programme in recent weeks, a senior official from the Sri Lankan Embassy has told Arab News. The Lankan mission in Riyadh receives around 10 runaway maids a day from the Central Province. "We have witnessed a remarkable increase in the number of runaway maids following rumours of raids that are spreading around the capital," the official said. According to a survey conducted by the Sri Lankan Consulate in Jeddah, most of the runaway maids leave their workplaces within three months of arriving in the Kingdom. The most common complaints voiced by the maids include harassment and non-payment of wages. The average contracted salary for Lankan housemaids working for a Saudi household is SR 650 per month. Employers who hire the runaway maids locally, pay a monthly salary of SR 1,500, which is more attractive than the wage offered by the original sponsor. Some of the cases are settled at the Missions in Riyadh and Jeddah through negotiation with the sponsors. The rest of the maids are sent home. The official explained that the repatriation of maids is streamlined through the Deportation Centre after their travel documents are processed. The Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment provides air tickets to stranded housemaids only if they have registered as domestic aides with the bureau. The others, he said, must pay for their own tickets to Colombo. A Saudi sponsor spends at least SR 15,000 to hire a maid from Colombo, whereas a person who locally hires a runaway maid is willing to pay triple the originally contracted salary since there is no need to incur costs such as visa fees, air fare and agency fees 2013-04-09 இலங்கைப் பணிப் பெண்ணை சவுதி நாய் கூண்டில் அடைத்தது அம்பலம்! அதிர்ச்சியின் உச்சம்

இலங்கைப் பணிப் பெண்ணை சவுதி நாய் கூண்டில் அடைத்தது அம்பலம்! அதிர்ச்சியின் உச்சம் April 07, 2013 சவுதி அரேபியாவின் தமாம் பகுதியிலுள்ள பணிப் பெண்கள் தங்குமிடத்தில் மூன்று மாதங்களுக்கு முன்னர் இடம்பெற்ற துன்பகரமான சம்பவமொன்றை இலங்கையர் ஒருவர் பதிவுசெய்துள்ளார். பெண்களுக்கு எதிராக இடம்பெறும் இவ்வாறான துன்புறுத்தல்களை தடுக்க நடவடிக்கை எடுக்குமாறு கோரியே அண்மையில் நாட்டிற்கு வருகைத் தந்த குறித்த இலங்கையர் இந்த காட்சிகளை வழங்கினார். சவுதி அரேபியாவின் தமாம் நகரிலுள்ள இந்தக் கட்டடத் தொகுதியில் பணிப் பெண்ணாக வீடுகளுக்கு அனுப்பப்பட்டு அங்கிருக்க மறுப்பு வெளியிட்டு இலங்கைக்கு திருப்பி அனுப்பப்படவுள்ள பெண்கள் தங்க வைக்கப்பட்டுள்ளனர்.

Bodu Bala Vs. Mera Bala

By Kasun Adikari -April 9, 2013

Kasun Adikari

“We have still not got over the shock of the traumatic events of last July. It was a tragedy that we failed to avert. It was a tragedy that did the country no good. The duty, an inescapable duty, to the country is to see that another disaster of that nature never overtakes our people.” – S. D. Bandaranaike – reported in the Sunday Observer on 30th October 1983

Introduction

“Adirajyavadi Balavegaya”, “Anthavadeen” are the two Sinhala terms often used by the Regime and its new wing Bala Sena to face any challenges locally as well as internationally. Perhaps these two words are the weapons of the same to deviate people from the truth and to remain in power for decades.

The local as well as international media is replete with accounts of ethnic and religious tension in Sri Lanka. This is hardly the time for unnecessary ethnic posturing when there are other urgent issues in the country crying for our concern and attention. Hence, before organizing public rallies with the intention of creating communal disharmony, before attacking Muslim owned establishments, before pasting posters in places of worship containing abusive words, before harassing Muslim women wearing hijab, before issuing death threats to victims asking them to withdraw legal proceedings from courts of law, I urge this Bala Sena to study the rich history of Sinhala Muslim relationship in addition to the basic principles of Buddhism.

The Bond

The following words of Dr. Lorna Dewaraja, a prominent authority on the history of Sri Lanka, best explains the close bond of friendship and understanding between the Sinhalese and Muslims;

“Historians have traditionally been attracted by wars and rebellions whereas the peaceful co- existence of groups of people over long periods tends to be overlooked… In the history of Sri Lanka few are aware of the harmonious relationship which had developed between the Sinhalese and the Muslims and that both have lived together peacefully for over a thousand years. Perhaps because it was such a peaceful relationship, it has passed unnoticed by the historian.”

The Muslims are peace-loving people. They have lived as a law-abiding people, for centuries, with the Sinhalese. They have, not only, lived among the Sinhalese, but also, with the Sinhalese. The Muslims have never called for the division of Sri Lanka. On the contrary, they have opposed division and stood by the Sinhalese. The close relationship has yielded mutual benefits for both communities. This relationship is now being put to the test.

History of Muslims of Sri Lanka*                                           Read More  

Buddhist extremists in Sri Lanka demand to ban screening Indian Tamil movies 


Mon, Apr 8, 2013
Apr 08, Colombo: Sri Lanka's Sinhala Buddhist extremist organization Ravana Balaya has decided to urge the authorities to ban the screening of Indian Tamil movies in Sri Lanka.
The secretary of the Ravana Balaya, Buddhist monk Iththepane Saddhathissa Thero said that a letter urging the ban would be handed over to the Public Performance Board tomorrow.
Ravana Balaya says that the decision has been taken to protest the influence of Tamil Nadu over the island's integrity.
Members of the extremist Buddhist monk group held a protest outside the Sri Lanka Cricket office on April 03 threatening to take action against the players who left for the IPL tournament.
Ravana Balaya launched a protest opposite the Indian High Commission in Colombo on March 20 condemning the attacks on Sri Lankan Buddhist monks in Tamil Nadu.

ColomboPage - Recent 10 Stories

The Fashion Bug case: A turning point for Muslim rights in Sri Lanka

The Fashion Bug case: A turning point for Muslim rights in Sri Lanka

Sunanda Deshapriya-9 Apr, 2013

Groundviews

The judicial case related to the violent attack on Muslim owned Fashion Bug head office and warehouse in Pepiliyana, 10 km away from Colombo, is destined to be a turning point in Muslim Rights in Sri Lanka.

Buddhist monks on the rampage at Fashion Bug as Police just look

Following is a brief recap of the incident in order to get the context right.

As the darkness descends around 8.00 p.m. on 28^th March, the mob, which has been there for some time, came out form the Sunetradevi Pirivana Temple nearby. The mob was led by Buddhist monks. Their first target was the Emerald Trading, a Muslim owned heavy vehicle yard. According to its owner Mursi Ahamad Sadoon, all the vehicles and equipment in the yard were stoned and the office was set on fire by the mob.  He estimates the damage to exceed 10 million Rupees.

Then the mob turned their wrath against the Fashion Bug warehouse and its outlet.  By this time the mob has grown to a few hundred, estimates vary from 200 to 500. Led by monks, the mob was shouting anti-Muslim slogans and had become very aggressive. They assaulted the workers of the Fashion Bug, injured a   journalist and harassed number of media personal. The mob caused extensive damages to the building, merchandise and vehicles.

The BBC’s Charles Haviland reported to the world that ‘the police reportedly stood by as Buddhist monks attacked a Muslim shop’. AFP story said that ‘eyewitnesses said the police stood and watched although after the trouble spread they brought it under control’.

The police took few hours to bring the situation under control but did not make any arrests on the spot. No one was baton charged or tear gassed.  Behaviour of the police showed great contrast to its proven ability to use batons, tear gas, water cannons and even live bullets to suppress legitimate protest of workers, fisherman and students in the recent past.

Within hours, videos depicting the mob violence led by monks against Fashion Bug, while the police was standing still went viral on the Internet. One local TV station too ran the footage.  Online media started to post inflammatory speeches of Bodu Bala Sena (BBS): “We have all the proof about the Fashion Bug and No Limit outlets and what they are doing to your girl children! Harems are being created. Are we to sit back and allow this to happen? Hereafter we will only send our boys to work in these shops. They will no longer get our women!  We are not asking anyone to go and stone these places and attack them.” (WSWS). Evan the Chinese government owned news agency Xinhua filed a long story under the caption “Sri Lankan Muslims fear reprisals as monks vent anger”. Quickly extremist Buddhist groups on the receiving end of multiplying social media reporting on how the attack was premeditated.

Minster of Justice, Rauf Hakeem, leader of the main Muslim political party, a ruling coalition partner, called for justice and requested an immediate Cabinet meeting to discuss the matter. He tried to make a collective effort with other Muslim political leaders in the ruling coalition. In both endeavors, he miserably failed.

Police went on damage control. Next day Daily Mirror quoted the Police to tell its readers that‘Fashion Bug clothing outlet which suffered damages was not the main focus of the mob attack’. And the BBS issued a statement denying its involvement in the attack and urged the authorities to take action against the attackers.

The miracle 01 happened the same day. The suspects started to surrender, including 3 Buddhist monks who were on the videos.

The Miracle 02 happened on the next day; the 30th March 2013. When the case was taken up in Court, Fashion Bug, informed Court that ”it was not necessary to detain the suspects, particularly the clergy, in remand for the purpose of holding an identification parade, as such a situation could further erode national harmony and cause serious damage and prejudice locally as well as internationally. Therefore with the intention to maintain peace, it was informed to Court thatFashion Bug will not continue with the action any further” (FT).

Approving the Fashion Bug’s submission the police informed the Court that ‘because of the responsible civic conscious attitude of Fashion Bug they were able avert a national issue.’ (FT)  DIG Anura Senanayaka, a known policeman of the regime, told reporters gathered at the Gangodavila magistrate court premises “To withdraw their claims in the name of national peace despite being the victims of an attack of this magnitude is truly exemplary” (DM).

The magistrate who initially  refused to accept the position taken by the police to release the suspects, later discharged all of them without any charges being framed against them.

Fashion Bug owners, issuing a statement, thanked both the media and the President: Media for covering the issue accurately (i.e. providing the video and photo evidence of the perpetrators!) and the President for his vehement pursuit of truth and justice with regard to the matter!. They thanked DIG Anura Senanayaka and not the IGP for ‘establishing swift law and order’. (after few hours, of course!)

Minister for Justice and SLMC leader told BBC Sinhala service that ‘he had a conversation with the owner of Fashion Bug and he was convinced that the so called settlement was forced upon him and the rule of the law had been challenged. He further added that releasing the suspects within 24 hours stating that the two parties involved in the incident reached a settlement cannot be accepted.’ (SLM). This was Minster of Justice speaking on Rule of Law!

Now we can make some observations:

1. Rauf Hakeem and SLMC have  lost any leverage with regard to ongoing anti Muslim campaign by the Buddhist extremists. His appeal for an urgent cabinet meeting was thrown to the dustbin. It was only few weeks ago that N.M. Ameen, Head of the Muslim Council of Sri Lanka, appealed directly to the President by passing  the SLMC leader.
2.  Muslim Business leaders like the Fashion Bug owner think that if they file charges against Buddhist extremists for violent vandalism directed against their business it may ‘further erode national harmony and cause serious damage…’: It justifies the Xinhua story that  ‘Sri Lankan Muslims fear reprisals as monks vent anger’
3.  The Police indirectly warns/advices Muslims that in such situations, they better behave with a ‘responsible civic conscious attitude’ and not to complain against extremist mobs because it may course ‘a national issue’.  (It seems as the attack on Emerald Tradingcausing 10 M damage didn’t reach the law enforcement agencies at all. Another ‘responsible civic conscious attitude indeed’!)
4.  The Police praise the releasing of violent mob ” is truly exemplary in the name of national peace”.
5.  According to Minster of Justice Rauf Hakeem the owners of the Fashion Bug were forced to withdraw the charges, and the police action in releasing the mob suspects is not acceptable. So the so-called civic conscious  and truly exemplary  attitude was not voluntary.

From these observations a few conclusions can be drawn.

Muslims in Sri Lanka should not complain and seek judicial redress against Buddhist extremist violence directed against them because it may cause national issues and further damages. They should behave like responsible civic conscious citizens (read as keep your heads down) in the face of anti-Muslim hatred and assaults.  In case they dare to seek judicial redress, this so called exemplary responsible civic consciousness will be forced upon them by the state. And the Muslim businessmen will accept it and praise the perpetrator.

These conclusions point to  the turning point.

As shown by the Fashion Bug case Muslim rights cannot be protected by relying on business or political leaders. They will be forced to compromise on political and economical privileges. Muslims’ right to equality needs to be part and parcel of larger movement for democratic reforms in Sri Lanka. Muslim civil society needs to get the struggle out of ethnic straight jacket and start mainstreaming it.

If not unfortunately remaining alternative will be to look at Myanmar and sigh.

The Fashion Bug case: A turning point for Muslim rights in Sri Lanka

President at the Bodhu Bala Sena headquarters in the morning

Tuesday, 09 April 2013 

President Mahinda Rajapaksa is to visit the Bodhu Bala Sena headquarters on April 9th morning, a senior officer from the Presidential Security Division (PSD) said. The President has personally requested the leaders of Bodhu Bala Sena and the PSD to keep the visit under wraps.

General Secretary of Bodhu Bala Sena, Ven. Galagodatte Gnanasara Thero and National Organizer, Ven. Vitharandeniye NandaThero have left for the US yesterday (8) on an invitation by several Buddhist temples in the country with the aim of expanding the Bodhu Bala Sena network in the US as well. Our sources say that the President had planned his visit to the Bodhu Bala Sena headquarters when the two monks have left the country.

The President visit to the Bodhu Bala Sena headquarters is to be made to look as one made while passing by. He is to meet with the head of Bodhu Bala Sena, Ven. Kirama Wimalajothi Thero, Theoretician, Dilantha Withanage and other leaders of the movement.

Expect more details later…

The Fashion Bug case: A turning point for Muslim rights in Sri Lanka

Tuesday, 09 April 2013

Yet another example of the government’s practice of forgetting its responsibility of serving the people, and using public money for publicity and various other stunts is being reported from Janasevana, which comes under the National Housing Development Authority.

In total disregard for the millions of homeless people in the country, Janasevana is to spend Rs. 3.8 million on a musical show to be held at P.D. Sirisena grounds in Maligawatte for a three day duration from today on the instructions of minister Wimal Weerawansa, say its employees.

If the wastage of public money in this manner continues, the president’s hope of transforming the country into the miracle of Asia will only be a pipedream, say the NHDA employees.

Creating Trouble To anvermanatunga.com Blog In Sri Lanka

Anver Manatunga

I am, Anver Manatunga, a religious preacher by profession. I am involved in preaching Islam in Sri Lanka and many other countries in the world. In addition to this, I am managing a web site www.anvermanatunga.com in Sinhala to present my views to the people. When the extremists started spreading religious discord against the Muslims and Islam whole situation changed to a new direction.  

When I saw that the extremists have fabricated a lot of lies and propagating against the Muslims and Islam, I started to write articles refuting their lies. My counter arguments and logical presentations made the extremists to abandon their crafty schemes. My website though had to face many criticisms and mudslinging it became very popular day by day. During this period many fabricated stories about my private life also have been publicised.

The net outcome of this abusive propaganda made my blog and me very popular. Meantime another extremist organization, Bodu Bala Sena, came into the scene and it pushed the religious strife to another extreme. We could observe that there were many latent forces also have been active in spreading religious hatred.

Anver Manatunga Blog (AMB) could expose the true nature of these extremist organizations through the internet and some of the logical documents presented by us have been published in normal media also. During this period I was made to understand that the  extremist organizations were busy in looking for my whereabouts, I was compelled to leave the country.

We could continue to operate this website and we made every effort to avoid any political bias in our approach. By our documents, we have criticised the Government, Opposition and the Muslim political parties. We attacked, when we came to about any latent force being behind any happening. We believe though the Government is fully capable of controlling the extremism prevalent in the country at present, they are intentionally avoiding this situation. Communal forces have rallied round the Defence Secretary, Mr. Gotabhaya Rajapakse and the minority ethnic and religious groups are around Mr. Basil Rajapakse. Though this situation may appear to be conducive for Mr. Mahinda Rajapakse to govern the country, it may eventually push the country into a very serious turmoil.

Muslim civil organizations, Muslim religious leaders and Muslim politicians have been subjected to a very serious pressure at present. All of them have been pushed to a situation where they are unable to present the truth openly. They are not doing anything being concerned of their personal safety.

We carried out a very successful public awareness campaign through Anver Manatunga Blog (AMB). According to wordpress records, our website has exceeded 950,000 visitors during the last 15 months. Last month alone the number of visitors was approximately 200,000.  None of the private websites has achieved this popularity and according to the Alexa data it has been listed in the most popular 500 websites in Sri Lanka. This has caused lots of hatred and jealousy in the minds of the extremists. A website managed and administered by a Muslim, achieving this much of success and popularity, was not for the happiness of the Sinhala community of this country. A few days ago some of the internet service providing telecommunication companies has denied access to this website and at present all telecommunication companies have denied access to anvermanatunga website. Following is the error message you will get when you attempt to access Anver Manatunga Blog (AMB) within Sri Lanka.

Error: Requested url content cannot be accessed. This website is blocked until further notice either pursuant to court order or directions of Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka..’

We very categorically state that Anver Manatunga Blog (AMB) has never insulted any religions. We have been criticising only the extremists groups operating within Sri Lanka. Irrespective of this there are many websites directly insult and abuse Muslims and Islam in Sri Lanka and we have listed a few of these below.

There is a pretender Buddhist priest by the name Galagodaththe Ghanasaara who appears in the media daily and insult Muslims and Islam. As there is no person or place to lodge a complaint against this heinous behaviour, the Muslims, Catholics and moderate Buddhists have become very much helpless. Though our website has been blocked in Sri Lanka, we assure all fair thinking Sri Lankans, that we will never give up our struggle against extremism, extremist organizations and latent hands extending  assistance to such monstrous organizations.

Anver Manatunga,

Editor,

Anver Manatunga Blog (AMB)

Please translate this letter to Tamil and publish in  Tamil websites.

Full Story>>>>

BASL launches brave struggle against attack on Judiciary - Editorial

TUESDAY, 09 APRIL 2013 

Though the politicisation of the Supreme Court and Judiciary began in 1996 with the appointment of Sarath N. Silva as the Chief Justice, a full-scale attack on the Independentce of the Judiciary and the consequent breakdown of the rule of law apparantly began in December last year  with the motion to impeach CJ 43, Shirani Bandaranayake. 

The Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal both gave clear rulings that the impeachment process against Dr. Bandaranayake by Parliamentary Select Committee was illegal and unconstitutional. Despite unprecedented national and international pressure against this illegal impeachment, the government stubbornly if not arrogantly ignored the appeals and in January the President removed CJ Shirani Bandaranayake. During the impeachment process Sri Lanka’s premier body of lawyers the Bar Association of Sri Lanka took a courageous stand and pledged it will not accept CJ 44 Mohan Peiris because the impeachment of CJ 43 was illegal. On March 30, the BASL held its annual convocation to induct its new President Upul Jayasuriya who had bravely taken the forefront in the battle against the impeachment of CJ 43. 

Mr. Jayasuriya and the Bar Council did what many observers saw as a historic act of defiance when it decided not to invite CJ 44 Mohan Peiris as traditionally done. Instead the BASL invited Dr. Bandaranayake to sit at the head table of the convocation along with Mr. Jayasuriya and Justice C. Vigneshwaran, who made a hard hitting speech warning that the attack on the independent judiciary could lead to the end of democracy, accountability, transparency and the hallowed checks and balances among the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary.

What happened after the BASL convocation was another devastating blow to the Judiciary. The Judicial Services Commission (JSC) headed by Mohan Peiris transferred nearly 100 district judges and magistrates despite pleas by them that transfers in April would affect their family lives and specially the education of the children. Senior District Judges and Magistrates, especially those who held office in the Judicial Services Association, were transferred to remote stations. The BASL called for an emergency meeting of its executive committee, the Bar Council and it appointed a top level committee to probe how the BASL should response to what it sees as political or personal transfers.

Over the past few years, especially after the scrapping of the Independent Police Commission, most people cannot and do not go to police stations because of wide-spread ruling party interference and bribery or both. Now we come to a more dangerous situation where most people will be reluctant to go to courts because of the spreading cancer of politicisation.   The government even at this late stage needs to come to an awareness of the serious damage it has done and is doing to the independent judiciary, bringing Sri Lanka perilously close to authoritarianism. If power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely. 

Is this presidential commission on Matale mass grave worth its salt?

2013-04-08 True to Sri Lankan style, President Mahinda Rajapaksa has decided to appoint a 'presidential commission' to conduct an inquiry into the Matale mass grave. The mandate of the proposed commission is to be finalized in two days, Presidential Spokesman Mohan Samaranayake, said, confiding to our correspondent that he too is awaiting further instruction with regard to the latest presidential decision. Indications are that the decision to appoint a commission was made in a hurry, in an apparent move to wade off an international scrutiny on the issue which could even risk an international tribunal on the matter, such as the one on the Rwandan Genocide or on the Democratic Republic of Congo. Incidentally, the presidential decision was announced on the very day this newspaper reported a narrative by K.G. Kamalawathi, whose teenage sons who had been abducted by the Army on 13 December 1989. Mrs. Kamalawathi recalled how she was turned back at the gate of the Army Camp, when she went to meet the then Military Coordinating Officer (MCO), of Matale, Lt. Col. Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, to seek the release of her detained sons. In the backdrop of the prevailing climate of impunity in the country, and that some of those who held command responsibilities in 1989-90, are now holding positions of influence, including the current Secretary of Defence, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, it is open to question whether Sri Lanka is capable of conducting an independent local investigation into the mass grave in the backyard of the Matale Hospital. Equally important is that Sri Lanka does not have a witness protection scheme, which would have guaranteed the security of the family members who would come forward to give evidence before the proposed commission. Last year, a Tamil man known as Majestic Prabha, was allegedly abducted by the State apparatus, after he filed a Fundamental Rights petition against senior police officers who had allegedly tortured him while he had been previously held at a detention facility of the Terrorist Investigation Division. Faltered and crumbled The sad but stubborn fact is that previous 'independent commissions' that had been tasked with politically sensitive investigations had faltered and crumbled. Equally disturbing is that most individuals who had been handpicked to those commissions were, in fact, the apologists of the current regime. One interesting analogy is the conduct of the Commission of Inquiry appointed by President Mahinda Rajapaksa in 2006 to probe into several high profile incidents of human rights violations, including the killing of five students in Trincomalee, and the massacre of relief workers of the Action against Hunger (ACF) in Muttur. An International Independent Group of Eminent Persons (IIGEP) – headed by respected Indian former Chief Justice, P.N. Bhagawati – was invited by the President to assist and observe investigations conducted by the Commission of Inquiry. However, in April 2008, after two long but futile years, the IIGEP terminated its existence, blaming the lack of political will on the part of the Government of Sri Lanka to support a search for the truth. Sometime later, when the mandate of the Commission of Inquiry expired, it had done precious little, other than blaming the ACF for its slain employees – and showcasing to the world that the Sri Lankans lack competent domestic mechanisms. The bottom line is that presidential commissions in this country are meant to buy time and to divert international attention. One could only hope that the latest presidential commission would be an exception to this norm. For that to happen, it is mandatory that the commission has international participation. Four presidential commissions Nearly 18 years ago, the then newly elected President, Chandrika Kumaratunga, appointed three interlinked Presidential Commissions of Inquiry on Involuntary Removal and Disappearance of Persons. The three commissions were vested with a mandate to investigate and report on the human rights abuses, mainly the disappearances that took place in three main regions during the period 1988-1994. These three commissions inquired into 27,526 complaints of disappearances and established 16,742 proven incidents of disappearance. After the mandate of the three commissions had expired, the government established a fourth commission, known as the All Island Presidential Commission on Disappearances, which inquired into 10,136 cases and established 4,473 cases of disappearances. At the expiration of its mandate, the All Island Presidential Commission referred an additional 16,305 complaints which it could not inquire into, due to the limitation on its tenure, to the National Human Rights Commission. However, in July 2006, the National Human Rights Commission decided not to pursue investigations into the existing complaints, 'unless special directions are received from the government.' The job of the proposed presidential commission on the mass grave would be made much easier by four lengthy reports prepared by the previous Presidential Commissions on Disappearances, which have provided extensive and disturbing details about the scale of disappearances, which were largely blamed on the State military apparatus and affiliated paramilitary groups. (Earlier, faced with international condemnation, President Ranasinghe Premadasa, in January 1993, appointed a Presidential Commission of Inquiry into the Involuntary Removal of Persons. However, mindful of his own culpability in grotesque rights violations that took place in 1989-90, President Premadasa, excluded the period of the second JVP insurgency from the mandate of his farcical Commission of Inquiry. The mandate of his commission covered only the period beginning from 11 January 1991.) 'Chased away like dogs' The All Island Presidential Commission in its report acknowledges the persistent problem in Sri Lanka's security apparatus and law enforcement agencies: "The security forces and the police are necessary adjuncts of a State. They are required for the protection of the state and the protection of the citizens of the State. The average citizen looks to them for protection. The tragedy of Sri Lanka lies in the distortion of relationships between the citizens and the security forces including the police, which has resulted from the acts of both politicians and subversives." The report narrates the routine experience of grieving parents, like Kamalawathi: "During the sittings of this Commission, we repeatedly heard the saying: "When we went to a police station, we were chased away like dogs." Below is an excerpt from the Presidential Commission of Involuntary Removal and Disappearances in the Western, Southern and Sabaragamuwa Provinces: "Persons who sought the protection of law encountered a complete denial to them of recourse to the ordinary procedures of law enforcement; i.e. reporting to the police, the reports being followed up by an investigation by the police, a contemporaneous police record of the incidents of disappearance and statements of witnesses, and police report of courts with the attendant safeguards for witnesses, including the complainant, and assistance in obtaining relevant further evidence including forensic evidence." "I went to the police 76 times, but we were driven away like dogs." - Father And the reports shed light into grotesque counter insurgency practices deployed by the Security Forces. Excerpts: "Broilers:" "A practice of keeping in unrecorded detention "stocks" of detainees of a certain age-group, who had been taken into custody in combing-out operations or casually off the road/beach was evident in several instances from the evidence of returned detainees. These persons then disappeared without trace after being taken out of the camp generally following on a subversive act that had caused loss of life or damage to property damage or on the camp being dismantled. Given the practice of 'reprisal killings,' sinister significance attached to these disappearances from State custody. Hence the slang of the period." Some military officers were candid enough to confess the pressure brought upon them by local politicians. Below is an excerpt from a statement given by Lt. Gen. Rohan Daluwatta, Commander Sri Lankan Army, to the Presidential Commission: "While I was Co-ordinating Officer, Ratnapura, certain political pressures were brought to bear on me. I was given a list of names with the direction to take them into custody, that they were JVPers. I received the List from a former Minister (deleted from the report).....When I checked the list with the Police, I came to know that they were SLFPers. I was told, that area could be cleared were I to catch them." Twenty five years after thousands of youths were abducted, tortured, killed and dumped into undocumented graves, the ghosts of the past have come to haunt Sri Lanka. Sri Lankans have failed to hold the killers of their sons and daughters responsible, and their very failure had condemned them to live in a climate of impunity. Should they decide to act decisively this time, not only would they help delivering justice to their dead, but also help end a culture of impunity, in which they have been held hostages.

2013-04-08

Attempts to frame Gota over Matale

April 8, 2013

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Attempts are being made to frame Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa over the human skeletal remains found at Matale, Director of the Media Center for National Security Lakshman Hulugalle said.

Hulugalle said that the sudden interest of opposition political parties in the Matale mass grave is with an ulterior motive.

He said that the Defence Secretary was the coordinating officer in Matale during the time the opposition claims the people were said to have been buried in the mass grave.

Hulugalle said that top military officers in the caliber of Kamal Gunaratne and Shavendra Silva had also served in Matale.

It is for this reason that there is a sudden push by the JVP and UNP to call for an investigation on the grave site.

However he noted that while the JVP and UNP are pointing one finger at the government, the other four fingers point back at them.

He insisted that the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) was never involved in murdering civilians like the JVP and the UNP.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa has decided to appoint a special commission to investigate the mass grave at Matale.

Over 150 skeletal remains and human bones have been unearthed from the mass grave in Matale.

The Judicial Medical Officer had determined that the remains were of those killed sometime in the late 1980′s and the area has now been marked as a crime scene.

At least 10 skeletal remains were first found from the site near the Matale hospital in November last year by construction workers when land near the hospital was being dug-up to construct a new building.

Following police investigations excavation work began to look for skeletal remains at the site and more remains were found.

The JVP had demanded that the government carry out investigations on the mass grave following fears the remains maybe that of JVP members or supporters killed during a 1987-89 insurgency.

The UNP, which was in power during the 1987-89 period, said it will back an independent investigation into the mass grave.

The UN had also been called to assist in the investigations into the mass grave. (Colombo Gazette)

Gotabaya the prime suspect in Matale mass killings now begins his evidence killing operations –Orders destruction of police records

(Lanka-e-News -08.April.2013, 11.55PM) The present Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapakse the prime suspect in the Matale mass genocide , had ordered today that all police registers and records which are older than 5 years at the police stations in the Central province including Matale be destroyed. Lanka e news reported yesterday that he had also instructed the IGP that all reports linked to the court action regarding the Matale mass graves be forwarded to him.

The objective in all these measures taken is to completely wipe out every information that links him to the mass murder though the orders are absolutely and brazenly unlawful. According to the police dept. rules and the supreme court (SC) new law reports these actions are totally illegal. Based on police department regulations , the records which are older than 5 years in connection with day to day information , crime information , traffic offences , civil cases and other information books can only be destroyed if court proceedings is not going to take place . Besides , they can only be destroyed in front of the relevant SSP .during his half yearly inspection.

In any case , if information has to be secured from these books or records or registers subsequently regarding crimes or against an officer, those records cannot be destroyed under any circumstances , and no police officer has the power to destroy. This is clearly stipulated in the police regulations. In the NLR reports it is mentioned that the SC had given verdicts many times to that effect.

Accordingly , while there is a case already in the courts regarding the Matale mass graves murders , and Gotabaya has been incriminated as being involved in the murders when he was Colonel Gotabaya at that time and the commanding officer in Matale ,and when these criminal details against him have come to light , destroying the records books and registers is absolutely illegal.

Based on reports reaching Lanka e news , the police registers / records regarding the murders and missing persons in the period 1988 -89 , and the police books are still intact , because a commission was appointed previously to investigate them , and a large number of witnesses gave evidence. Some of them even filed cases in the SC. As a result those police books / registers are still intact .

Gotabaya Rajapakse is already tainted with war crime charges and has therefore become notorious even internationally as a ruthless criminal. Hence, if the records and registers linked to his latest crime exposure - Matale mass murder are destroyed adhering to Gotabaya’s order today , it will be the Matale SSP R D S Medawatte and Central province Senior DIG M R B Ambanwala, will have to fully answer for those illegal activities later .

The discovery of the skeletons of 154 dead persons does not relate to a simple crime by any stretch of imagination.. It must be noted that the whole world is watching this investigation not only for its hugeness in number but also for the brutality and callousness of the perpetrators.

May it be warned that if any officer commits any wrongful or unlawful acts on Gota’s orders or of his own accord during the investigations, some day he would have to face the punishment via courts Locally or internationally.

Impact Of Resolution Would Be Determined By Govt’s Reactions – Sumanthiran

 Monday, April 08, 2013

• Govt has had ample time and space to address concerns raised four years ago

TNA parliamentarian, Attorney-at-Law M. A. Sumanthiran says the international community has realized that the request for time and space is not a genuine one but only for the government to implement its own agenda. He observed that if the government acts responsibly at least at this stage and engages constructively with the international community following the adoption of the 2013 resolution at the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), the country could deal with all outstanding issues. “The people of this country will have to ask themselves the question as to why the very countries that banned the LTTE and helped the government win the war, are now applying pressure to settle the six-decade long ethnic issue by peaceful means,” Sumanthiran said.
Following is the interview:

Q: What impact do you think the adoption of the latest US backed resolution on Sri Lanka at the UNHRC would have on the country?
A: That will be determined by how the Government reacts to this. If it acts responsibly at least at this stage and engages constructively with the international community, we can do ourselves a favour and deal with all outstanding issues that hinder genuine reconciliation with the help and assistance of the international community.

Q: Do you believe the government statement that progress has been made in implementing the LLLRC recommendations and the post war reconciliation process?
A: An emphatic ‘No’! The National Action Plan doesn’t even deal with half the constructive recommendations of the LLRC. The more important ones have been studiously left out. Even the ones dealt with by the National Action Plan have not been implemented except the one on teaching Sinhala and Tamil in schools, which has commenced in some schools.

Q: How do you view India’s vote in favor of the resolution?
A: India voted in favour of the resolution last year too. The present resolution is a follow up on that. Any country that voted for last year’s resolution could not have voted against this.

Q: In your view, what is the progress required from the government in addressing concerns of human rights, accountability and reconciliation?
A: His Excellency the President acknowledged that there were serious allegations of violations of human rights that needed to be inquired into as early as 26th May 2009, when he undertook to do that in the joint communiqué he issued along with the Secretary General of the UN. At the same time several undertakings were given in Geneva at the UNHRC by Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe. It is precisely those undertakings and promises that need to be fulfilled.

Q: How much time and space does the government need to address the concerns raised by the international community?
A: The government has had ample time and space to address all these concerns which they undertook to address four years ago. The international community has at least now realised that the request for time and space is not a genuine one but only for the government to implement its own agenda of grabbing the lands belonging to our People, changing the demography of the North and East and to militarily subjugating the Tamil People.

Q: Would pressure mounted on the Sri Lankan government by the international community help bring about a lasting solution to the ethnic issue?
A: Yes it will. The people of this country will have to ask themselves the question as to why the very countries that banned the LTTE and helped the government win the war, are now applying pressure to settle the six-decade long ethnic issue by peaceful means. The legitimate political aspirations of the Tamil People must be accommodated within the governing structures of the country. It is a pity that even the 13th amendment to the Constitution that reversed the Sinhala Only policy, was conceded to only after the Tamil youth took to arms. There was a thirty-year long peaceful agitation by the Tamil People prior to that. But all that happened during that period was the unilateral abrogation of even the two pacts signed by the governments of the day. Now there is another opportunity to resolve this. The TNA is not asking for anything more than what successive governments offered between 1993 and 2006.

Q: India has once again called for the full implementation of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution and to go beyond. Do you feel that the 13A and beyond would be the only solution for Sri Lanka?
A: Well the 13th Amendment is a part of the Constitution of the country. The Tamil People did not accept that as the final solution because it did not lay out a meaningful scheme of devolution of power. That is why, after the enactment of the 13th Amendment, there were several processes in which the successive governments came up with several proposals to address these defects. I do not say that a solution must necessarily be based on the 13th Amendment, but it is obvious that no solution can be less than what is contained in that. Prof. Peiris is on record describing the 13th Amendment as being ‘fundamentally flawed’, when he campaigned for a federal constitution. Either, these fundamental flaws must be rectified in order to achieve meaningful devolution, or we must draft a new Constitution that goes well beyond that and establishes a system of proper power-sharing between the different Peoples of this country.

Q: How would the growing dissention against Sri Lanka in Tamil Nadu affect the country’s progress?
A: That is only a symptom of the disease that afflicts our own country. We must put our house in order and that symptom will disappear.

Q: How strained do you think Indo-Sri Lanka relations are at present?
A: To the extent Sri Lanka violates the commitments it has made to India and the international community at large. The answer to that is in the hands of the Sri Lankan government.

Q: Do you believe that the Rajapaksa government could deliver a lasting solution to the ethnic issue after winning the war?
A: Yes. There is nothing that stops them from doing that, except their own sense of misplaced pride and plans for dynastic succession.

Q: Are you satisfied with the role played by the TNA in raising the issues faced by the Tamil community in the country?
A: Yes I am, to the extent that our human and other resources have permitted us. But we need to do much more in convincing the Sinhala People that our struggle for justice and equality will not take anything away from the position they enjoy in the country as the numerical majority.