Parliamentary Secretary Deepak Obhrai calls on Sri Lanka to ensure media freedom and investigate attacks on journalists

[ Wednesday, 17 April 2013, 09:05.45 PM GMT +05:30 ]

(Ottawa) Deepak Obhrai, M.P. and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, today made the following statement in the House of Commons:

“Canada remains deeply concerned about the state of media freedom in Sri Lanka. The offices of a newspaper in Northern Sri Lanka were attacked again on Saturday. The BBC recently suspended all radio broadcasts following what it called “continued interruption and interference” by the national broadcaster. Faraz Shauketaly, a journalist, was shot on February 15. The 2009 killing of Editor Lasantha Wickrematunge and the 2010 disappearance of Prageeth Ekneligoda, a cartoonist, remain unresolved. Last month’s UN Human Rights Council resolution on Sri Lanka expressed concern at continuing reports of violations of freedom of expression as well as intimidation of and reprisals against journalists. Canada urges the Government of Sri Lanka to ensure freedom of expression and the safety of media personnel, and to fully investigate these attacks.” The creation of one day newspaper  17 ஏப்ரல் 2013, புதன் யாழ்ப்பாணத்தின் பிராந்திய பத்திரிகையான "உதயன்" பத்திரிகையை அடிப்படியாகக் கொண்டு, நாளாந்த பத்திரிகையொன்றின் உருவாக்கம் தொடர்பிலான ஆவணப்படம் இதுவாகும். செய்தி சேகரிப்பு, செய்தி எழுதுதல், பக்கவடிவமைப்பு, அச்சுப்பதிப்பு, விநியோக செயற்பாடுகள் அனைத்தையும் உள்ளடக்கியதாக இவ் ஆவணப்படம் படமாக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது.

The creation of one day newspaper - "ஒரு பகல் ஒரு இரவு"

யாழ்ப்பாணத்தின் பிராந்திய பத்திரிகையான "உதயன்" பத்திரிகையை அடிப்படியாகக் கொண்டு, நாளாந்த பத்திரிகையொன்றின் உருவாக்கம் தொடர்பிலான ஆவணப்படம் இதுவாகும். செய்தி ...

May Day with powerful solidarity against all impending ills!

WEDNESDAY, 17 APRIL 2013

“Let us join hands for an ANTI RACIST NATIONAL UNITY MAY DAY RALLY in the National capital Colombo! Let us save our Motherland from Racism and Religious Fundamentalism!  JOIN as Political parties, minority organisations, trade unions, civil groups and Individuals!”

This was the spontaneous demand that started the discussion for a May Day which will bring out a powerful solidarity against racism and religious sectarianism. It has cut across the economic demands of the trade unions and the other democratic demands. According to the text books of radical politics such a mobilisation should be done by the working class organisations. But unfortunately still many trade unions are tied to the Mahinda regime which is mainly responsible for the rise of racism and religious sectarianism in this country. Though the government has agreed to implement the LLRC recommendations it is unable to go forward because of the dark forces unleashed by some of the leaders of the regime. Even though these recommendations are to bring back or to establish the democratic rights of Sinhala people as well, chauvinist leaders depict them as stepping stones to the establishment of an Eelam state. There is no room for sensible discussion; they just repeat the same blind statement - “This is for Eelam.” While creating fear in the minds of the Sinhala people, that the whole world is united to create an Eelam in Lanka, the  ruling elite concentrate power in their hands to create a draconian dictatorial regime. This is to protect the rich bourgeoisie thriving on corruption, theft and speculation. This new bourgeoisie is expanding at the expense of everybody else.

 Some believe that the main cause of this dictatorial regime is the present constitution. It is true that the ‘78 constitution could be classified as a plan to establish a constitutional dictatorship. In fact in 1978 Feb. 04 when this was launched I was in remand jail in Kandy for hoisting black flags against the establishment of a constitutional dictatorship. However later JR was forced to introduce sharing of power and devolve power to provincial councils. At that stage we believed correctly, if substantial devolution of powers takes place then to that extent the constitutional dictatorship will be diluted. Hence we demanded more powers to the provinces. Later the 17th Amendment was brought in to arrest further the executive power of the President. Also it was clear that all Presidents did not behave in the same way in using executive power and there were many differences. In fact Chandrika was accused by the leading members of the SLFP, including Mahinda, for not using executive powers to crush the peace agreement. Later she was forced into an agreement with the JVP which prohibited any discussion on devolution. For anyone who seriously studied the use of executive power by the past Presidents, it will be obvious that the present concentration of power in the Mahinda regime came through the use of  his chauvinist political power, accumulated during the time of the war.

 In fact it is precisely this glory of the war hero and the dirty respect for the chauvinist champion of the Sinhala that gave pseudo Napoleonic power to Mahinda to go through the 18th Amendment. Not even the CJ, Shirani Bandaranayke, could raise a finger against this horrific violation of democracy, which legitimised the concentration of executive power in the hands of Mahinda. Fortunately the LLRC has identified the evil nature of the 18th amendment. Not only  do they insist that the 18th Amendment should be removed but also they want to implement the 17th  Amendment to establish all Commissions, so that the administration will function without undue political influence. Now the dictatorial monster is fed by open racism and religious sectarianism. It is true that the constitutional dictatorial character in the constitution was utilised for the creation of the present oppressive regime. But it is a secondary problem. The main factor threatening democracy today in this country is the racist and religious extremist mobilisation which justifies the existence of a cruel dictatorship. Hence it is correct to forward anti-racist and anti- sectarian slogans with economic and social revolutionary slogans in the coming May Day.

Commonwealth Judges And Lawyers Want Suspend Sri Lanka From The Councils Over CJ Impeachment

By Colombo Telegraph -April 17, 2013 |

The three branches of the legal profession, assembled at the 18th Commonwealth Law Conference, in Cape Town, South Africa call upon the Members of the Commonwealth, through the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group to place Sri Lanka on the agenda of its next meeting on 26 April 2013 and suspend it from the Councils of the Commonwealth for serious and persistent violations of the Commonwealth fundamental values.

Chief Justice - Shirani

Issuing a statement the Commonwealth Lawyers Association, the Commonwealth Legal Education Association and the Commonwealth Magistrates’ and Judges’ Association say “tarnish the reputation of the Commonwealth especially given that the Sri Lankan Head of State will thereby assume the role of Chair – in – Office”

We publish below the statement in full;

RESOLUTION ON THE RULE OF LAW AND JUDICIAL INDEPENDENCE IN SRI LANKA

REFERRING to the Statements we have previously issued expressing our grave concern about the flawed impeachment process by which Chief JusticeBandaranayake was removed from the office of Chief Justice in defiance of the judgements of the highest courts in Sri Lanka.

REFERRING also to the statements of concern issued by the UN Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers;

RECALLING:the Commonwealth (Latimer House) Principles on the proper relationship between the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary; the Commonwealth Declarations of Principles and Values as recently embodied in the Commonwealth Charter;

Sri Lanka’s commitment, as a Member of the Commonwealth, to these values;

NOTING:that Membership of the Commonwealth is seen as a badge of respectability but that badge is being tarnished by repressive actions in Sri Lanka:

- the continued erosion of the independence of the judiciary through the impeachment of the Chief Justice and the subsequent relocation of magistrates and judges in Sri Lanka;

- the Executive’s failure to abide by court orders; and

- the gross and persistent harassment of members of the legal profession and others who are seeking to defend these values in Sri Lanka.

THE CLA, CLEA AND CMJA, representing three branches of the profession, assembled at the 18th Commonwealth Law Conference, in Cape Town, South Africa:

1. Call upon the Members of the Commonwealth, through the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group to place Sri Lanka on the agenda of its next meeting on 26 April 2013 and suspend it from the Councils of the Commonwealth for serious and persistent violations of the Commonwealth fundamental values. This suspension would not preclude the people of Sri Lanka from participating in non-governmental Commonwealth activities; and

2. Exhort Members of the Commonwealth to reconsider the holding of the next Heads of Government Meeting in Sri Lanka as to do so will:

a) tarnish the reputation of the Commonwealth especially given that the Sri Lankan Head of State will thereby assume the role of Chair – in – Office;

b) call into grave question the value, credibility and future of the Commonwealth;

c) be seen as condoning the action of governments who violate its principles and by its silence will undermine the moral authority it purports to have in protecting and promoting fundamental values of the rule of law and human rights Notwithstanding this resolution, the CLA, CLEA and CMJA affirm their support to those seeking to uphold the rule of law in Sri Lanka.

Commonwealth Lawyers Association (CLA)

Commonwealth Legal Education Association (CLEA)

Commonwealth Magistrates’ and Judges’ Association (CMJA)

Read more here

Related posts;

‘As A Member Of Commonwealth, Follow Its Values’ Urge Commonwealth Judges, Magistrates And Lawyers

Impeachment: Esure Firness And Latimer House Principles Says Commonwealth Lawyers, Magistrates And Judges

Law Society supports CLA call for suspension of Sri Lanka from Commonwealth

17 APRIL 2013

The Law Society of England and Wales today added its voice to those calling for the suspension of Sri Lanka from the Councils of the Commonwealth, following reports of serious breaches of the rule of law and judicial independence.

It announced its support for the high-level international resolution at the 18th Commonwealth Law Conference in Cape Town, South Africa.

The resolution, which was ratified at the conference by the Commonwealth Lawyers Association (CLA), the Commonwealth Legal Education Association (CLEA), and the Commonwealth Magistrates’ and Judges’ Association (CMJA), calls for resolute action against Sri Lanka following ‘repressive actions’.

The resolution includes:

• a call upon the Members of the Commonwealth to place Sri Lanka on the agenda of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group meeting on 26 April 2013 and suspend it from the Councils of the Commonwealth; and
• a plea for the Members of the Commonwealth to reconsider the holding of the next Heads of Government Meeting in Sri Lanka.

The resolution follows reports of serious breaches of the rule of law and judicial independence in Sri Lanka, including the controversial impeachment by Parliament and removal from office of chief justice Bandaranayake in January 2013.

Lucy Scott-Moncrieff, president of the Law Society of England and Wales, said:

‘The Law Society adds its voice to those calling for the suspension of Sri Lanka from the Councils of the Commonwealth. When our shared values, including those respecting human rights and the rule of law, are under threat, we must act resolutely and hold firm.

‘We cannot sit back and watch as the independence of the Sri Lankan judiciary continues to be eroded. We cannot remain inactive as politicians fail to abide by court orders. We cannot look away as members of the legal profession face gross and persistent harassment.

‘We remain committed to supporting those who do uphold the rule of law in Sri Lanka.’

Ends

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Uthayan attack: Systematic impunity renders Govt. responsible - RSF/JDS

16 APRIL 2013

BY RSF | JDS

Reporters Without Borders and its partner organization, Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka (JDS), firmly condemn a pre-dawn armed attack on the Tamil-language daily Uthayan’s headquarters in the northern city of Jaffna on 13 April, just 10 days after a similar attack on Uthayan’s distribution office in the town of Kilinochchi.

In the 13 April attack, three gunmen threatened Uthayan security guards and staff members and forced their way into the printing department, where they opened fire on equipment and then set fire to it, causing major damage but no injuries.

“We are appalled by this latest attack, which comes amid growing threats and violence against the Tamil media, and we offer our complete support for Uthayan’s journalists, whose courage has our admiration and respect,” Reporters Without Borders and JDS said.

“The police should have agreed to the newspaper’s request for protection after the 3 April attack on its office in Kilinochchi. The passivity of the police in the face of repeated crimes of violence against Uthayan, and the systematic impunity enjoyed by those who carry out these crimes, render the government directly responsible.”

Uthayan editor Premananth Thevanayagam told JDS: “Speaking in Tamil and threatening them with their guns, the attackers told the staff in the printing section to disperse. When the staff refused to obey, they opened fire on them and the machinery, before setting fire to the machinery. Fortunately, no one was injured.”

Thevanayagam added: “We will no longer be able to print the newspaper at full strength as our main printing machine is damaged beyond repair.”

The only Tamil-language daily that never stopped publishing during the 1983-2009 civil war, Uthayan recently covered cases of land seizures by the military and local authorities in the north of the island.

Thevanayagam said he thought this coverage “could have been one of the motives for the attacks, as well as the debates prompted by the elections of provincial councillors.”

In the pre-dawn attack on Uthayan’s distribution office in Kilinochchi, 100 km southeast of Jaffna, on 3 April, the office was ransacked and four employees were injured. Following this attack, Uthayan asked those in charge of the police in the north of the island to provide the newspaper’s main offices with protection, but the request was ignored.

There has been a wave of harassment and violence against Uthayan since the start of the year. An Uthayan distributor was attacked on 10 January and the newspapers he was transporting were burned. Thevanayagam was summoned by the Criminal Investigation Department on 18 January for questioning about an article implicating senior army officers.

At least five of the Uthayan’s journalists have been killed since 2002 in attacks by government forces or pro-government paramilitaries.

Sri Lanka is on the Reporters Without Borders lists of “countries under surveillance” and is ranked 162nd out of 179 countries in the 2013 Reporters Without Borders press freedom index.

And The Beatings Go On

By Kath Noble -April 17, 2013 

Kath Noble

The Government is getting really good at denying responsibility for attacks on the media. Within hours of the incident at the Uthayan office in Jaffna on Saturday, its spokesman had issued a several hundred word statement claiming that it was an ‘inside job’. How’s that for efficiency? If only it put a fraction of that energy into finding proof of its imaginative theories, we might actually be convinced.

Unfortunately, it has not been able to identify the culprits in even one previous case, although there have been many.

That is what I would describe as an ‘interesting phenomenon’.

The statement claims to have spotted a rather different ‘interesting phenomenon’. It says that Uthayan is the only newspaper to have faced harassment in the ‘recent past’, which it suggests is odd because Uthayan is owned by a TNA parliamentarian who is ‘actively campaigning against the Government and the Military in the North and East’.

The first point to note is that unless one adopts a very narrow definition of the phrase ‘recent past’, this is simply not true. Faraz Shauketaly of The Sunday Leader was shot less than two months ago. Less than six months before that, the editor of the same newspaper, Frederica Jansz, left the country claiming that she was under threat, having had a run-in with the Defence Secretary. And before that, it was the turn of Lanka-e-News. Its office in Colombo was attacked by arsonists, and its news editor Bennet Rupasinghe and a journalist Shantha Wijesuriya were both jailed for a time. Its editor, Sandaruwan Senadheera, also fled the country. Cartoonist Prageeth Ekneligoda‘s disappearance took place just three years ago. That all seems like ‘recent past’ to me.

But let’s concentrate on the last few weeks.

In that period, Uthayan has indeed suffered disproportionately – it has been attacked twice. On April 3^rd, an armed gang trashed vehicles and computer equipment at its distribution centre in Kilinochchi, in the process injuring four members of staff. Then came the attack of April 13^th at its Jaffna headquarters. This time the security guards fled and the armed gang set fire to the printing press and a stack of newspapers awaiting delivery.

That is certainly curious.

Even more peculiar is that it is not only the newspaper owned by a TNA parliamentarian that has suffered. The TNA itself has also come under attack. On March 30^th, a mob of about 50 people threw stones at a public meeting organised by TNA MPs in Kilinochchi. Several participants were injured. However, they managed to capture one of the assailants and hand him over to the police, who were supposedly providing security for what was a pre-approved event. He was identified as a member of the CID. Photographs and even a video of the attack was made available to the authorities, but the man was released. No arrests have been made to date.

This was clearly no ‘inside job’.

In other words, while the TNA is ‘actively campaigning against the Government and the Military in the North and East’, somebody has been attacking the TNA. That is the second point to note.

Point number three concerns another ‘interesting phenomenon’. Until the last few weeks, Uthayan had not come under attack since the first half of 2011. On March 16^th of that year, a police constable entered its premises and threatened the staff, saying that he would set fire to the building. On April 7^th, the Jaffna Mayor declared that the newspaper would not be allowed within the confines of the municipal council and issued instructions not to give any advertisements or news to Uthayan. On April 29^th, a reporter was beaten up on assignment at Jaffna University. On May 28^th, another reporter was attacked on his way to work near the Jaffna Hindu College playgrounds. On June 16^th, a photographer was attacked at a TNA meeting. On July 5^th, the TNA parliamentarian owner of Uthayan received a death threat over the phone. On July 29^th, the news editor was seriously injured in an assault on his way home near the Navalar Road Army camp. However, from then until the end of 2012, Uthayan was challenged only in court, according to a list that the newspaper has circulated.

And the last elections in the Northern Province were in July 2011.

Given that there is supposed to be a poll in September this year, the attacks on Uthayan would seem to be part of a very established pattern of election violence.

If the Government expects us to believe that it is not responsible, it has only to arrest the culprits and ensure that no further incidents take place. With thousands of soldiers roaming around the Northern Province, this really shouldn’t be too difficult.

The credibility of the election depends on it.

Of course, for that to be a problem for the Government, the poll must actually happen.

In the last few weeks, key personalities have been suggesting that it would be better not to have a provincial council in the Northern Province. Gotabhaya Rajapaksa told The Island that a hostile administration could be ‘inimical to the post-war national reconciliation process’, and a whole lot of his hangers-on have been agreeing, in quite exhausting detail.

Bizarrely, their argument rests on the assumption that power should only be devolved to one’s supporters.

This may be a reasonable way to run an army, but we are of course talking about a democratic country. Democracy means that elections must be held even when the Government isn’t going to win!

Really ‘inimical to the post-war national reconciliation process’ would be for the Government to cancel the September poll on the basis that the people of the Northern Province want the TNA to form an administration.

To do so would be to justify continued support for Eelam.

What is needed is the exact opposite. The Government must focus its attention on undermining separatism, which means that it must work to show that Tamils can live in Sri Lanka. Fear of a TNA administration is understandable, since the TNA has not done enough to distance itself from the struggle for Eelam. However, even if the TNA wanted a separate state, it could not achieve it alone. It would need the very serious backing of the international community, including India, and while distrust of those countries is natural given their records, we should not forget that they all helped to defeat the LTTE. They know that a return to violence would be devastating, so convincing them that it is not necessary should be pretty easy.

Eelam will be a distant memory if the 13^th Amendment is made to work, and letting the TNA run the provincial council would be a very good first step.

Unfortunately, the Government may be more interested in consolidating its own power. Indeed, it might actually be quite happy to see the pro-Eelam struggle reignite, in much the same way as it has directly or indirectly encouraged the anti-Muslim campaign. Neither is good for the country, but they may both help the Government to project itself as a necessary evil – the only administration capable of responding to such threats.

If that is the case, the media had better brace itself for much worse times to come.

*Kath Noble’s column may be accessed via http://kathnoble.wordpress.com/. She may be contacted at kathnoble99@gmail.com.

US is tightening the screws

EDITORIAL

2013-04-17

It is no secret that the US Government is not impressed with the performance of the Sri Lankan Government. If one was disillusioned into thinking otherwise, news reports of the proposal by the new Secretary of State, John Kerry, to cut down American aid to Sri Lanka by 20%, would have put paid to that. The proposal is akin to a sanction of sorts, and reflects the discomfort in the US-Sri Lanka relations over issues associated with human rights, reconstruction and political integration in the country after the end of the near three-decade war. This is also a telling reflection on the erroneous judgments of those pseudo-pundits who claimed that Kerry would be a better bet than Hillary Clinton and would be more amenable to Sri Lanka's cause.

Let us be practical. The US Government is no Iran, Myanmar or North Korea. Nor is it the 'bully' most of those in the ruling circles deign and describe it to be. At the helm of the US Administration is one of the most powerful rulers of the world, a friend of the commoner, so to speak. If Sri Lanka, presumed to be ruled by a populist President and populist Cabinet of Ministers, catapulted into power on a populist platform, cannot make friends with such a 'great friend of the Third World,' it certainly is Sri Lanka's loss and someone else's gain.

Especially in the context of the current more-than-cordial relationship between the United States and India, a far-thinking ruler would have made it a point to go the extra mile to make friends with the biggest and the sole Super Power of the world. The doctrinaire thinking that has inhibited some of the elements inside the ruling circles has obviously entrapped them into a corner. The sad irony of it all is that a self-described people's government has become more and more divorced from the very basic concepts of the common notions of decency, tolerance and co-habitation.

On the one hand is a Super Power that could boast about the killing of the most ferocious terrorist of the modern world, Osama Bin Laden, and on the other is another tiny island-nation that mastered another terrorist organization, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. Ideally, they should be able to get on with each other quite amicably and without any self-imposed inhibitions. But our side obviously has caved into its own warped rationale rooted in archaic and regressive thinking, and even more regressive governing. Here is a text-book case for generations to study, dissect and deduce, as to how not to govern a people after an immense military victory over a murderous terror group.

Yet our leaders have failed, not because they are inept and incapacitated, which they are sometimes not, but more because they are refusing to see the light of the day.

The cut in the US aid package for Sri Lanka is the highest drop for any South Asian country in Kerry's budgetary proposals, which was sent to the Congress last week for its approval. It is believed to be in actual terms of dollars and cents, a cut of USD 11 million, which according to a senior State Department official, is a 'drop of 20 per cent' from the actual fiscal spending in the year 2012. Their reservations expressed in their statement are even more accusatory in that it says: "But in several cases, we had programmes that we were trying to support, to which the government — the military, got quite involved and so we were not able to pursue those programmes."

If that wasn't indictment enough, there is the recent assertion of the US Ambassador to Sri Lanka, about the likelihood of the country returning to a conflict state. Given the massive propaganda unleashed by the government-backed media outlets that the amity between the minorities and the majority Sinhalese Buddhists is on an upward trend, this assessment by the United States of America is not so encouraging to the people, not to mention what it would entail to the ruling circles.

TNA says it does not need ISGA

April 15, 2013, 7:32 pm 

By Ravi Ladduwahetty

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) yesterday said it had not asked for an Interim Self-Governing Authority (ISGA) for the Northern Province till the provincial polls were held.

This follows news reports that the TNA, with Mannar Bishop Rayappu Joseph and civil society members, had asked a visiting delegation of Indian Members of Parliament to press the Government of Sri Lanka to establish an ISGA.

Asked whether his party had requested the GoSL for an ISGA and whether it was confident that it could obtain what the LTTE failed to during the 2001-2003 UNF government, TNA National List MP Sumanthiran told The Island:

"We have never asked the government to establish an ISGA and that was never on the agenda of the TNA. What has effectively happened would have been that the matter pertaining to the ISGA would have come up when the members of the civil society had a meeting with the visiting Indian Parliamentary delegation, which we, the TNA, as a party, were oblivious to. The ISGA has not even figured in our talks with the visiting Indian Parliamentary delegation."

Sumanthiran urged the government to hold the elections to the Northern Provincial Council at its earliest, adding that it had been overdue for the last four years.

When pointed out that both President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Government spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella had announced that the Northern Polls would be held in September, Sumanthiran said: "It was to be September 2012 and now it is September 2013. I don’t know why the government is having this September landmark and we are asking whether the month of September is an auspicious time for elections!"

The government could even hold the Northern polls even in June this year, MP Sumanthiran said, adding that it was scared to hold the polls for the fear of losing to the TNA.

Leader of the House and Irrigation Minister Nimal Siripara de Silva said that the Northern Provincial Council would be held in September.

A Golden Opportunity For Tamils To Present A United Front And Speak With One Voice

By Usha S Sri-Skanda-Rajah -April 17, 2013 

Usha S Sri-Skanda-Rajah

After we heard from the ‘kangaroo court’ of murderers sitting in judgment in their own case, i.e.the Army Court of Inquiry, we heard from the man who wants to short change Tamils, Dayan Jayatilleka. He is ready to give Tamils an unsolicited poisoned chalice of an “Avuruddhu” gift called the “13^thamendment” which the Tamil politicians and civil society members have rejected out right “as not an adequate starting point.” The Indian delegation has just come and gone with hopefully one message from the Tamils. This is a golden opportunity for Tamils to present a united front, with the blessings of the Indians, to move forward towards fulfilling Tamil aspirations.

Meeting of the Minds

What we need to work on is a meeting of the minds of all Tamils. Now that shouldn’t be a problem when considering the outlook is bleak and we can’t sink any further. We need to set aside our differences and work in concert to save our Nation in the island of Sri Lanka.

Dayan Jayatilleka defended the Hawks; what is he talking about?

Do we have to have to give any credence to a Sri Lankan diplomat who has been sidelined “who has shamelessly taken credit for having cleverly concealed the truth about the mass slaughter of Tamils in Mullivaikal Northern Sri Lanka in May 2009?” No I don’t think so.

Read my article on Dayan Jayatilleka titled Response to ‘Geneva consensus: Setting the record straight’ to know about how he was “basking in the glory of what he achieved that day at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UN HRC) at a special session convened to discuss war atrocities allegedly committed by both sides in the last stages of the war in Sri Lanka, the out come ( in favour of Sri Lanka) actually sending shockwaves in the international circles,” especially with the international media and rights groups who were left livid.

I have a few things to say to Dayan: Who is he calling the “Sinhala Hawks” when he has brazenly defended the “Sinhala Hawks” singing for their supper at the UN and beyond? The other points I’ll keep for later in the article.

Grim News from the Vanni

The news from the Vanni is bad. I have just heard from a friend who had visited the Vanni and just returned. The North is an open prison, people are overcome by fear; they want to flee: I got this raw unadulterated news straight from ground zero from the horse’s mouth: Women are being used as “sex slaves” and the families dare not disclose it to anyone. They watch as “silent partners in a crime” that they can’t report. The people are held captive against their wishes but can’t speak out. Any activity would elicit a visit from the “bad men” in uniform, the Rajapaksa government’s equivalent to armed Gestapo.

The army snatched my friend’s mobile and broke it before he could take a single picture.

India Must Shed its Obsession with the 13^th Amendment

Tamils have broken the ice with the Indians. The Tamil politicians and members of the civil society who met with the Indian delegation visiting the NorthEast province wanted India to shed its “obsession with the 13^thamendment: “The obsession with the 13th amendment to the Sri Lankan Constitution will hardly help the Tamils, politicians and activists in northern Sri Lanka told the Indian parliamentary delegation, which wound up its visit to Sri Lanka on Thursday,” reported Meera Srinivasan for The Hindu.

Differences between Tamils should be Ironed out before the Provincial Council Elections: Contesting each other would be Suicidal

Looking at the Tamil political parties and some members of the civil society, there seems to be a few differences between them that are not hard to iron out. If Tamils remain divided they would virtually let the enemy in; that would be suicidal in a provincial council election if they contest each other.

TNPF and Guruparan want a Transitional Administration Model

Now from The Hindu report both Gajendrakumar of the TNPF (Tamil National People’s Front) and K Guruparan, Law Lecturer of the University of Jaffna ‘”reportedly emphasised that the 13th Amendment was not an adequate starting point in addressing the problems of the Tamils. Responding to a BJP MP’s question whether the Northern Provincial Council Elections opened a ‘window of opportunity’, The Hindu quoting Guruparan reported: “In response, civil society members are said to have prescribed a “transitional administration” model, outside the current Sri Lankan Constitution, as an alternative, where in Tamil representatives have actual powers in realms of education, health and livelihood issues. “In this model, the Sri Lankan government will also have a role and so will representatives of various communities. If the government is willing to engage with this option, we could work out the modalities,” he had told The Hindu.

For Dayan to Note:

The 13^th amendment is a non starter – does his version include police and land powers? With the advent of the Divineguma Bill (now law) and the 18^th Amendment, a lot of the discretionary and financial powers have been removed from the provincial councils (that were already nothing less than “glorified Municipal Councils: Nadesan Satyendra). Furthermore to his argument that an interim administration outside the Constitution is not possible, let me remind him of the ’72 constitution that was created outside of parliament by a Constituent Assembly that illegally abolished section 29(2) of the Soulbury Constitution. If there is a will there is a way. It’s not about Tamils giving “Sinhala Hawks” an “Avurudhu Gift” by not accepting the 13^th amendment and some, the TNA President included, opting for an “interim administration”, the gift that they could inadvertently give the “Sinhala Hawks” would be the gift of a divided Tamil polity against the enemy.

Suresh Premachandran TNA President wants Interim Administration:

Mr Suresh Premachandran, TNA President was not far off with these views when he had told The Hindu Tamils need an interim administration: “We told the visiting MPs that the ongoing genocide has to end here. There are serious livelihood issues prompting Tamils to leave the country. We need an interim administration, overseen byIndiaor the United Nations, until there is a final political settlement for the Tamils.”

Although Sumanthiran speaking for the TNA made it clear that the TNA was looking to the Northern provincial council elections and wasn’t going for any “interim administration” like the ISGA (Interim Self Governing Authority), “till the provincial polls were held” the Island news paper reported.

The Island’s Report: Sumanthiran’s views: “No Interim Self-Governing Authority (ISGA) for the Northern Province till the provincial polls were held?”

TheTamil National Alliance (TNA) yesterday said it had not asked for an Interim Self-Governing Authority (ISGA) for the Northern Province till the provincial polls were held. This follows news reports that the TNA, with Mannar Bishop Rayappu Joseph and civil society members, had asked a visiting delegation of Indian Members of Parliament to press the Government of Sri Lanka to establish an ISGA. Asked whether his party had requested the GoSL for an ISGA and whether it was confident that it could obtain what the LTTE failed to during the 2001-2003 UNF government, TNA National List MP Sumanthiran told The Island: “We have never asked the government to establish an ISGA and that was never on the agenda of the TNA. What has effectively happened would have been that the matter pertaining to the ISGA would have come up when the members of the civil society had a meeting with the visiting Indian Parliamentary delegation, which we, the TNA, as a party, were oblivious to. The ISGA has not even figured in our talks with the visiting Indian Parliamentary delegation,” the Island adding that Sumanthiran urged the government to hold the elections to the Northern Provincial Council at its earliest, adding that it had been overdue for the last four years.

Crunch Time: A Single Unified Strategy Needed

So here we are at a juncture when it is crunch time; but haven’t we said it before a billion times. Are we going to continue to stumble and fall yet again without coming up with a single unified strategy and speaking with one voice?

If we don’t we won’t have Tamils living any more in Eelam, that’s not my prediction but that’s reality: ReadKrista Mahr’s article, “Amid Abuse and Fear, Tamils Continue to Flee Sri Lanka,” she says, the number of Tamils fleeing has increased talking to Centre for Policy Alternatives Director, Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu : “To escape this climate of fear, it appears that an increasing number of Tamils are fleeing Sri Lanka, boarding barely seaworthy vessels, bound for an uncertain future as asylum seekers. This is despite the government’s official effort to reconstruct the war-torn north of the country. “You have a significant number of people leaving postwar, at a point at which the government is assuring that economic development is prioritized and reconciliation is being effected in earnest,” says the CPA’s Saravanamuttu. The fact that so many people are choosing to go “seems to suggest people in the north don’t feel that way. They are voting with their feet, so to speak, and they are paying fairly large sums of money and risking life and limb to do it.” Saravanamuttu says that official numbers of the number of people leaving are unavailable, but to give just one example, over 6,000 Tamils arrived in Australiain 2012, some 30 times higher than the 2011 figure.”

Falling into the Government Trap and Losing Everything

Are we going to fall into the trap laid out by Sinhala governments by complying with the Sinhala agenda of obliterating theTamil Nation; so that soon they can say, “who where what” are you talking about, the Tamils, they do not exist, they are not even “visible minorities”, they are nothing; Eelam what’s that, it’s a figment of the imagination of some delusional people. If Sinhala governments have their way soon Eelam Tamils will be landless and the NorthEast will be denuded of all Eelam Tamils. Call it a self fulfilling prophesy but why not say it when all indications are that it might just become a self fulfilling prophesy.

Tamils will have only Ourselves to Blame if we Remain Divided!  

So what is our response to the complete erosion of our social, civil, political, democratic and human right including our right to our home land, nationhood and self determination;’ what is our response to the occupation of our land by the Sri Lankan military at the ratio of 1 soldier to 5 civilians and 1soldier to 3 civilians in Vavuniya and the army’s interference with our daily lives; what is our response to the desecration of our temples and churches; what is our response to the appropriation of our private lands and the take over of our state lands and the deprivation of our peoples’ livelihood; what is our response to the ongoing structural genocide to change the demography of our traditional home land and destroy the Tamil national identity, religions, culture; what is our response when we have been reduced to the opposition in the Eastern provincial council.

Assault on Press Freedom

Take for instance the assault on press freedom; what is our response to our missing and murdered Tamil journalists; what is our response to Tamil BBC broadcasts being continuously interrupted so much so the BBC took the unusual step to suspend operations; what is our response to the destruction of Tamil press offices and machinery. The Uthayan newspaper has been destroyed 37 times; it was subjected to a “second armed attack in ten days,” say Reporters without Borders. Mannfred Nikolai who has more than 6,000 followers tweeted that Sri Lanka is ranked 162nd out 179 among nations in the 2013 world press freedom index. What is our response to the news that the last attack has rendered the machines useless. This spells disaster not only for press freedom, not only for the Tamil media, but for Tamils, deprived of the right to freedom of information as they face a provincial council election; an election where they are unwilling participants, because a boycott would bring the scoundrels into the council, those who committed the dastardly acts, those subjugating our people as we speak. So do we stand helpless and divided! No I don’t think so.

Kangaroo Court’s “Empty Findings”        

So what is our response to the Sri Lankan farce, the so called Army Court of Inquiry that has exonerated itself completely from any wrong doing, engineering a major cover-up of gigantic proportions, hoping it would get away with it; blaming it all absolutely on the “LTTE whom it refers to as LTTE terrorists”.

The Rajapaksa government has the audacity to think its ‘kangaroo court’ can pass for a “credible and independent” body worthy of respect to inquire into “credible” allegations of mass atrocity crimes, such as war crimes and crimes against humanity made against its own senior officers including the President, the Commander in Chief made by not only Channel 4 UK but by two eminent UN Panels the Dublin Tribunal and all the major international human rights NGOs and UN workers.

Ms Yasmin Sooka of the UN Panel of Experts has summarily dismissed the conclusions of the ‘kangaroo court’ as “empty findings”.

To Tamils the findings won’t stand in court when there are stacks of evidence, numerous items of video and pictorial evidence, testimonials, satellite images, expert witness testimonies of women, seniors and children taking cover in bunkers and those in ‘no fire zones’ shelled, bombed, rocketed and massacred in cold blood (that they as an “additional measure of safety added 500 meters more to the boundaries of the ‘no fire zones’ does not absolve the evil minds) The scale of atrocities committed, the heavy weapons used, the denial of food, medicine and humanitarian aid and the senseless executions, that has been documented can’t be denied.

Court has No Standing, Not a Single Civilian Casualty

This ‘kangaroo court’ has no standing for it interviewed only murderers from Senior Field Commanders down to Officers and no other witnesses. It told a bare faced lie that the Sri Lankan Army did not kill a single civilian: “The evidence before the court has conclusively established that the humanitarian operation conducted strictly in accordance with the ‘Zero Civilian Casualty’ directive made by his Excellency, president Mahinda Rajapaksa which the “commanders at all times obeyed,” the court concluded.

It’s an insult to the intelligence of reasonable people to say that the Sri Lankan army “was a well disciplined military force” engaged in humanitarian rescue operation and that they followed their President’s order of zero civilian casualties. Contrary to those blatantly false claims the Sri Lankan army was the most deadliest and savage army that did not treat the captured or the dead or even those who surrendered with dignity, so many were found stripped naked with their hands tied behind their backs, most of them sexually abused, even gang raped and subjected to mutilation before they were brutally executed. Many of the dead were found fully naked and transported after the bodies were stacked into vehicles in the most degrading and inhuman manner; we have seen a prisoner interrogated, tortured and then executed and the body burned in the latest ‘no fire zone’ documentary. We have seen execution videos of many prisoners executed at close range. We have seen children and one iconic child of the LTTE leader given a snack and then executed at point blank range.

Not only that the ‘kangaroo court’ found the “Sri Lankan troops had refrained from firing heavy weapons and this self-imposed moratorium had caused heavy casualties to Army troops,” but hadn’t given any casualty numbers, so that the Sinhala people would know how many Sinhalese died due to Rajapaksa’s hawkish policies, breaking the cease-fire and waging war..

And in a stinging rebuke to the international community the court “also noted the International Community had failed in their duty to stop the war crimes committed by the LTTE terrorists.”

Not a Humanitarian Rescue Operation’ it was a “Hostage Taking Operation”,

I say the ‘humanitarian rescue operation’ was actually a “hostage taking operation”, as nearly 300,000 people were put in ‘internment camps’ tightly packed with poor facilities for months, in conditions that were less than human; quite a number died there and the youngsters were taken as LTTE affiliates and disappeared, some were raped and abused; there are allegations that items of jewelry were taken by the soldiers.

Yes the Rajapaska government’s handling of issues of accountability and impunity for heinous crimes shows utter contempt not only for the international community but for the tens of thousands who perished.

Even “Western Powers can’t avoid the vagaries of war”

The Sri Lankan Army Commander’s final salvo absolving the army of all criminal liability came with his “concluding remarks”: “In any war even those fought by western powers using state of the art hi-tech equipment, civilian casualties are inevitable due to the vagaries of war…that if any new evidence is presented by giving precise information on casualties, such instances will be investigated further by giving that person the opportunity to present their evidence.”

Ms Yasmin Sooka: “Colombo’s Contempt for the International Community”

Need for Independent International Investigation

Ms Sooka did not mince her words when she said she was shocked at Colombo’s contempt for the international Community, underscoring the need for an international independent investigation and I quote:

“Colombo’s contempt for the international community seems to be increasing. The recent media release on the findings of the Military Court of Inquiry stretch credibility.

While I have not had access to the full report and to the evidence presented to the Military Court of Inquiry, I am shocked by the Court of Inquiry’s findings. I was a member of the Panel of Experts appointed by the United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon, to look into accountability for the final stages of the war. The Panel rejected with utter certainty the notion that the Sri Lankan Military mounted a “humanitarian rescue” and that the war was conducted with “zero civilian casualties”. The Panel’s work revealed “a very different version of the final stages of the war than that maintained to this day by the government of Sri Lanka. The panel found “credible allegations” which, if proven, indicated that war crimes and crimes against humanity were committed by the Sri Lankan military and the rebel liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (Tamil Tigers). The Panel concluded that “the conduct of the war represented a grave assault on the entire regime of international law designed to protect individual dignity during both war and peace”. It also found that as many as 40,000 civilians may have been killed in the final months of the civil war, most as a result of indiscriminate shelling by the Sri Lankan military. The Panel’s work was further vindicated by the report of Charles Petrie, the UN official appointed by the UN Secretary General to look into the role played by the UN agencies on the ground during the conflict. Charles Petrie suggested in his report that the number of civilian casualties is probably closer to 70,000. This figure is staggering and points to an enormous loss of life. The Catholic Bishop of Manner has suggested that more than 147 000 people remain unaccounted for.

The Panel rejected the notion that in any war there are casualties which are inevitable. The Geneva Conventions exist for a purpose to ensure that the lives of innocent civilians are protected at all time.

The findings of the Military Court of Inquiry exonerate the military of any responsibility and attest to the fact that the Government of Sri Lanka and the Military cannot be trusted to investigate the crimes committed during the final phases of the conflict.

That is why an independent international inquiry is needed.”

What is our Response when brought down to the lowest common denomination by a Sinhala Government

So what is our response to the Tamil National question when we have been brought down by a rabid Sinhala government to the lowest common denomination and cannot sink any further? We have lost our people, our land, and our rights; are we going to lose our surviving and future generations too?

It’s critical that Tamils make their position clear, that they do not work at cross purposes and look as though they seemingly were at odds with each other. The need of the hour calls for clarification of positions and consensus on the issues relating to provincial council elections or speaking with one voice on an interim administration in our message to India.

At last we have the unreserved support of the people of Tamil Nadu and a student population that’s agitating for our rights. At last we have major Indian political parties, Tamil Nadu state wide as well as from the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, distinguished politicians and a Chief Minister voicing their disapproval of the Sri Lankan government’s massacre of the Tamil people, who want the army to pack its bags and leave the NorthEast, who are not only calling Mullivaikkal a genocide but are open to looking at viable political solutions that would guarantee Tamil rights.

One Voice One Message

Let Tamils show the same fervour and single mindedness we demonstrated carrying the Vaddukoddai resolution forward, and giving it an overwhelming mandate.

This is a golden opportunity for Tamils to present a united front and to speak with one voice, conveying one message to the Indians.