Why Limited Police Functions Should Be Devolved

By R.M.B Senanayake -June 1, 2013 |

R.M.B. Senanayake

The devolution of police functions to the Provincial Council is highly controversial. The Government apparently wants to repeal this provision in the13^th Amendment. But the power over the police function given to the Provincial Council is very limited. The Central Government will continue to exercise substantial control over the police function exercised in the provinces. The Provincial Police will be under the authority of a DIG.

The 13th Amendment provides that whilst the D.I.G. himself ‘shall be responsible to and under the control of the Chief Minister’, all Police Officers in the Province shall function under the direction and control of the D.I.G. of such Province. This is required in the interests of good management for it will not leave room for interference by the Chief Minister and Ministers.

The D.I.G. ‘shall be responsible to and under the control of the Chief Minister’ but the D.I.G. shall be seconded from the National Division and selected by the I.G.P., and if the Chief Minister disagrees with such selection, appointed by the President.

The D.I.G. ‘shall be responsible to and under the control of the Chief Minister’ but the D.I.G. will be under the disciplinary control of the I.G.P. and will be employed on terms and conditions determined by the Central Government.

There is a Provincial Police Commission which will deal with appointments, promotion and discipline in the Provincial Police. This means that the Chief Minister cannot interfere unnecessarily with the discretion and decision making power of the DIG as we see today in the police which has become the police of the Executive President and the Ministers rather than a national institution enforcing the law and implementing the criminal justice system.

The subject of ‘Public Order’ is effectively retained in the hands of the President and the I.G.P. who may act either through the National Police Division or the Provincial Police division.

A Proclamation under the Public Security Ordinance declaring that the maintenance of essential supplies and services is threatened or that the security of Sri Lanka or any part of the territory thereof is threatened by war, or by external aggression, or by armed rebellion may be made before the actual breakdown of supplies and services, or the actual occurrence or war, of any such aggression or rebellion, if the President is satisfied that there is imminent danger thereof:

Provided that where such Proclamation is in operation only in any part of Sri Lanka, the power of the President to give directions under this Article, shall also extend to any Province other than the Province in which the Proclamation is in operation if, and in so far as it is expedient so to do for ensuring the maintenance of essential supplies and services or the security of Sri Lanka”.

So there are adequate safeguards for the Central Government to act where there is a possible breakdown of public order.

Leaving aside the subject of Public Order where the Central Government has adequate power to maintain public order there is the role of the police in the implementation of the criminal justice system. It should be possible to draw a distinction between the policing function in the province and in the Central Government. The trend in policing seems to be to set up specialist units at the center to deal serious crime, terrorism, public order, large-scale fraud, and other national or international problems. The Provincial Police provide services to the people in the area falling within the province. The policing function in the rural areas and the urban areas differ. During the colonial period the police generally went into a village to apprehend suspects only with the Village Headmen. This scheme broke down when Grama Sevakas were appointed from outside the village for the Grama Sevaka could no longer play any role in assisting the police.

The policing function in the rural and urban areas is different. Rural and urban areas often have different policing priorities, Isn’t it more appropriate that these purely local watchman duties and investigation of simple crimes be done at the provincial level by police officers who know Tamil and are better acquainted with the ways of life and the customs of the local communities. The crime patterns and crime rates will differ between the urban cities and the rural hinterland.

If,  it is accepted that the broad hypothesis is correct, namely that rural areas generally have different policing needs from urban areas, there is a case for devolution of the police function particularly the general policing function to the Provincial Councils. The rural areas do not require a sophisticated police force and hence there is a case for a separate police unit recruited at the provincial level as distinct from the national police. This argument goes beyond local need in so far as it recognizes that there are policy, constitutional and language requirements that are unique to the Northern Provincial Council. A provincial police force unlike the national police force will not be transferable over the whole island. A provincial police force is best equipped to serve the needs of the local communities in the provinces. Of course such a provincial police force cannot cater to every policing need. It will be possible to have a provincial police force which could be paid less than the national police force. A less costly police force would reduce the financial burden of the provincial police. The normal routine of investigating crimes and charging the suspects in court could be done more expeditiously with a provincial police force.

It is this Provincial Police Division recruited by a Commission which has a majority of members appointed by the Central Government and which functions under a D.I.G. who is under the disciplinary control of the I.G.P., who is answerable to the President, which is clothed with the responsibility of preserving public order in the Province and there is no cause for the opposition of the Sinhala nationalists to an eminently reasonable and cost effective arrangement

The Sinhala nationalists are creating a false sense of fear about the devolution of police powers. These matters were dealt with by that eminent leader President J.R Jayawardene and his brother H.W Jayawardene who were men of high intelligence and possessed of wisdom.

Related posts;

Political Duplicity And Devolution Of Police Powers by Austin Fernando

Why not give relief to Jaffna Tamils, asks Lanka court

COLOMBO, May 31, 2013

In this July 25, 2011 photo, Sri Lankan ethnic Tamil children play in front of a war damaged building in Jaffna. Photo: AP

Although the war ended in 2009, the petitioners have been prevented from returning to their land due to the military presence in the area.

A Sri Lankan Court has issued notice to the authorities asking why it should not grant relief to 2,000 Tamils in Jaffna over takeover of their land by the Army.

The Appeals Court issued notice to the respondents to show cause through filing of objections by July 10 as to why the court should not grant the relief asked for by the applicants.

The petitioners challenged the Section 2 notices issued under the Land Acquisition Act which specifies that 6,381 acres and 38.97 perches are to be acquired for the Defence Battalion Headquarters in Jaffna.

All of the petitioners own substantial tracts of land that fall within the above area and were displaced from their land due to war.

Sri Lanka’s army defeated separatist Tamil Tiger rebels after a brutal 26-year war in 2009.

The military says it needs land for security purposes and insists it is reducing its overall presence there.

Although the war ended in 2009, the petitioners have been prevented from returning to their land due to the military presence in the area.

Responding to international criticism on the issue, the Army in the recent weeks had announced plans to reduce the number of military camps in the northern Jaffna peninsula.

The Sri Lankan army is seizing land that could be worth $2bn

30/05/2013

We recently wrote about the Sri Lankan military's land seizures. Since then the Government of Sri Lanka has issued even more seizure notices, and we understand yet more are still to come.

Once again they are claiming this land in the public interest. Yet they have made no attempt to demonstrate that there will be any benefit to the public from the Army owning this land. In every single instance the land is to be taken by the military. In an example of how shameless the Sri Lankan Army can now afford to be, in once instance they even specify that the land is to be used to build a holiday resort.

In total 7063.8 acres of land has now been seized by the army in this way. As the average price of land in the Northern Province is Rs 260,000 per perch and there are 160 perches in an acre this means the total value of land seized by the government might be worth almost 300 billion rupees - that's over $2 billion!

Furthermore the Government has deliberately made it exceptionally difficult for landowners to come forward and claim their land. The descriptions given of the areas to be seized are vague, imprecise, and on occasion clearly inaccurate. One notice gives three different latitudes for the northern boundary of the land to be claimed: one is at the latitude of Jaffna - many miles from the area of the land claim - while the other two are twenty and forty miles north of Jaffna in the middle of the Indian ocean! In other cases mere fragments latitude and longitude are given, and in a manner which does not relate to any common manner of giving coordinates. More commonly only a vague description of the land to be claimed is given.

We struggled to identify some of the areas of land in question, and had to make approximations in many cases. And we have access to the internet and powerful research and mapping tools. Given the extent to which we struggled, how do the Government of Sri Lanka expect a subsistence farmer or Internally Displaced Person to be able to establish if it is their land that is being stolen?

Small wonder that in most instances the current landowner is given as "claimant can not be traced". However this too is inaccurate as the current landowners have come forward, and are now appealing to the courts, in over 2000 cases. Clearly the Sri Lankan Government did not try very hard to track them down. Indeed, writing for this blog, the Social Architects have claimed that the Government went even further than this and used deception and mistranslation to ensure that landowners did not come forward. In a case brought by 1474 petitioners (now increased to 2176) the point is made that many of the people who own this land were in daily contact with government officials who were well aware of their claim, and yet the Government still claimed that "the claimants cannot be traced".

These cases are now going to court, but because of the lack of information many more people may well not be aware that the Government is plotting to take their land. Many people who left Sri Lanka still own land there, and that too could well be seized by the Government without their knowledge. For this reason we have created this map, to share information about the land which is to be seized:

• If you own land in the north of Sri Lanka, or know anybody that does, please take a moment to look at this map and forward it on, the more people who are aware of what is taking place the better.
• If you think you might be affected by any of these land seizures, or if you have any more precise information about the location of the land, photographs of the land, or who might own the land then please get in touch.
• More land notices are being issued all the time and we will update the map as we get them. If you know of any more land seizures please do get in touch and pass on the details. If you can send us a copy of the notice (in any language) so much the better.

Note: When using the map please be aware that the location of the items on the map are approximate in many instances. We have indicated if and how accurate we believe the location to be, but please use the land notice itself only to determine the true location of any piece of land.

The map can be accessed here, and is embedded below. Please share the link far and wide.

Northern Elections Gives Government Opportunity To Build Credibility – NPC

June 1, 2013 

The government has confirmed that elections to the Provincial Council for the Northern Province will take place in September.  The National Peace Council (NPC) welcomes this announcement that puts to rest the speculation on this issue. Two coalition partners of the government have been objecting strongly to these elections.   If the provincial elections are not held, and the government fails to keep to its word it would seriously undermine its credibility.  The international community will no longer believe any undertakings or commitments regarding the issues which form the subject matter of the United Nations Human Rights Councilor other UN body. It will only strengthen the position of those who oppose the government in international forums on its record of human rights and fundamental freedoms.  It is necessary for a nation’s leaders to keep to their word if the country is to preserve its credibility.

By deciding to hold the provincial elections for the Northern Province as promised, the government will be sending a message to the people of the North that it is keeping a promise that it has made and can be trusted by the minorities.   This also has the potential to increase the government’s credibility with regard to other promises it has made, such as the promise to implement theLLRC recommendations and thereby provide solutions to the people’s most urgent needs. The government has a moral commitment to reunify its people of all communities and lead them to reconciliation after war.  This need is most marked in the case of the people of the North who have been the worst victims of the war.  Whether Tamil, Muslim or Sinhalese, those who lived in the North, and those who continue to live there, have been terribly scarred by the years of war, some have lost nearly everything they ever possessed, and need to be compensated and brought back to the national mainstream.

The National Peace Council believes that the manner in which the government conducts itself in regard to the September elections in the weeks and months ahead will also be important.  About two months ago, when the first talk of provincial elections in the north began to circulate, there were attacks against the opposition political parties in the North and against pro-opposition media groups.  This type of violence appears to have subsided.  It is important that the principles that underlie a free and fair election be honored.  It is the responsibility of all political parties not only to desist from violence in the lead up to the elections but also desist from coercive tactics such as bribery, corrupt practices, financial inducements and articulating unrealistic promises.

The National Peace Council calls on the voters from the North to vote for those who stand for democracy and value principles of subsidiarity in governance. An elected Tamil majority provincial administration created through free and fair provincial elections would increase the level of trust in the democratic process and possibly help to break the deadlock that has blocked the Parliamentary Select Committee process of constitutional reform proposed by the government.   We believe that the only way to keep a society together is not to force it to be together.  National unity must come through freedom and responsibility that are the essence and the essentials of any communion. It is through Freedom and Respect that one generates the feeling of community from within, and a sense of belonging, that Sri Lanka will be unified in heart and mind as it is in territory.

JHU takes a U-turn

Saturday, 01 June 2013

The JHU that presented a private member’s motion to parliament seeking the abolition of the provincial council system through a Constitutional amendment has decided to support the amendment bill on the Registration of Voters Act.

The amendment to the Registration of Voters Act is aimed at enabling the registration of persons displaced in the North and is aimed at giving voting rights to them before the Northern Provincial Council election.

The JHU that is opposing the holding of the Northern Provincial Council election says it would support the amendment bill that would give voting rights to the displaced in the North to enable them to vote at the Northern Provincial Council election.

General Secretary of the JHU, Minister Champika Ranawaka has said the passage of the amendment would give voting rights to displaced persons.

Explaining that if the bill passed, it would give the displaced people in the North the right to vote at the upcoming Northern Provincial Council (NPC) polls, Ranawaka has said the party would support the bill when it is tabled in parliament on June 6th.

However, Ranawaka has added that the JHU was opposed to the NPS polls.

Controversy in the east regime. Chief Minister cancelled the event, inaugurated by Hakeem.

Friday , 31 May 2013

Reports said, controversy is existing in the eastern province council regime. The ruling United People’s Freedom Alliance is governing the eastern province council.

Controversies exist amidst the Alliance parties,  is the cause for the present disturbance was said.  Disputes are amidst the eastern province Chief Minister and Sri Lanka Muslim Congress

This controversy was due to the inauguration of the library in the region of  Kalmunai urban council which comes under the control of Sri Lanka Muslim Congress.

Muslim Congress alleged that the unveiling ceremony of the said library was impeded by Chief Minister Majid. However Justice Minister and party leader Rauf Hakeem inaugurated the library on the next day which was prohibited.

This caused discrepancy amidst both sectors. With the coordination from Sri Lanka Muslim Congress, the United Peoples Freedom Alliance seized powers for the eastern province council.

UNP, TNA, CBK

By Dayan Jayatilleka -June 1, 2013 |

Dr Dayan Jayatilleka

The proposals for a new Constitution presented by the main Opposition party could have been much better, but as they stand they constitute a welcome and useful intervention in the political discussion. What is most positive is the stand the UNP has taken on the single most important political problem facing Sri Lanka, which is also the problem of the longest duration in our history as an independent country. This is of course the challenge of nation-building. At the heart of the problem lies the political relationship between the Sinhala and Tamil communities which pretty much overlaps with the issue of centre-periphery relations on the island.

Here the UNP’s constitutional draft makes a signal contribution by unambiguously committing itself to a unitary state form with the devolution of power to the provinces. This avoids the extreme of over-centralisation. Over-centralisation can take three forms: a unitary state without devolution, devolution only to units smaller than the province or a dilution of the powers devolved to the provinces. The UNP’s stance also avoids the other extreme of devolution exceeding the bounds of a unitary state. The formula of devolution to the provinces within a unitary state is not only logical, it has many precedents and parallels throughout the world.

The UNP’s proposal is supportive of the 13^th amendment though it suggests certain revisions and improvements which would make the process less top-heavy than it is now. The modified model of devolution proposed by the UNP would make provincial semi-autonomy more authentic than today.

What is perhaps most significant about the UNP’s recommitment to provincial devolution within a unitary state is that it sends clear signals, intentionally or otherwise, to both the ruling SLFP and the Tamil nationalists.

The signal to the SLFP is that it can take a firm stand against the JHU-NFF on the issue of the 13^thamendment, because the UNP is supportive of the existing scheme of devolution. It provides the SLFP with the option of defying the racists among its coalition partners, breaking through the red lines sought to be drawn by the latter and reasserting its authentically centrist character.

The UNP’s stance is also tactically smart because it deprives the rulers of the excuse that possible defections in the Govt parliamentary group deter it from going ahead with implementing the 13^th amendment in the North or it needs more time or that it needs to truncate the 13^th amendment in accordance with the wishes of the Sinhala extremists in its ranks.

Just as important is the signal that the UNP’s discussion draft sends the Tamil nationalists and ultranationalists. Mr Mavai Senathirajah, who is hardly the most militant element in the ranks of the TNA, let alone the Tamil nationalist movement, has just voiced his opinion, which he appears to claim is the TNA’s view, that no solution to the Tamil question can be found within a unitary state.  He also makes a point about ‘Buddhist domination’. He does not clarify what needs to be done to remove or reduce this domination and whether a unitary state would then be an acceptable framework for a solution. Mr Senathirajah’s remarks come at a time when the issue is clearly not the unitary state itself but what kind of unitary state it should be –re-centralised wholly or partially, or with the existing scheme of devolution of power to the provinces intact. He does not point to any example of devolution within a unitary state, unblemished by religious domination, that he and his party would find acceptable as a solution—such as that of Northern Ireland, Aceh or Mindanao.

Whatever the intention, the timing of Mr Senathirajah’s remarks reassure us all that the political animal that is mainstream Tamil nationalism has not changed since the days they tarred the name-boards of CTB buses just when SWRD Bandaranaike was battered by Sinhala racist opposition to the Pact with SJV Chelvanayakam, through to the recent days when the TNA issued a 70 page critique of the LLRC report just as negotiations with the Rajapaksa administration were stalled at a crossroads.

Thus the security establishment and the Sinhala-Buddhist lobbies may be pardoned if they are agitated about how the TNA would behave once in office in the Northern Province, especially if the more radical elements in Tamil civil society, Tamil Nadu and the Diaspora exert pressure. However, the UNP’s stance permits the legitimate aspect of these concerns to be met, without recourse to the drastic option of deleting or diluting devolution. With the UNP committing itself to devolution within a unitary state, the signal goes out clearly to Tamil nationalism that this is as good as it gets; that there is no option within the larger democratic polity of an ally who would, if it were elected to office, enable Tamil politics to puncture or penetrate the unitary framework. It also reassures the Tamil people that devolution within a unitary state is guaranteed inasmuch as there is a bipartisan consensus of the two major parties undergirding it. This leaves a Tamil nationalist politics that seeks to break-out of the unitary state, no southern option whatsoever. It simultaneously reassures the South that devolution is not to be feared since there is a bipartisan consensus safeguarding it.

The UNP’s stance on devolution is a signal to the world community on what the parameters of the Southern consensus are. If the UNP, which had once, episodically, stood for federalism, has reverted to its 1986 – 1996 (pre-Liam Fox) stand of provincial devolution within a unitary framework, it is because it knows that opinion at the grassroots does not permit anything beyond it and that the UNP itself has neither intention nor capacity to attempt to stretch those parameters.

Where does this leave the more unrealistic tendencies in Tamil politics? In any project that seeks to push beyond the unitary state, they would have to rely purely on external factors. Of the external factors at play, neither the US nor India would at this stage, back Tamil nationalism in a project that has no support from any political formation in the South, ranging from UNP to FSP or SLFP to JVP. The US and India would want a political solution that can be underpinned and guaranteed by an administration at the centre in Colombo. Given the Unitarian contours of the Southern democratic consensus, a push beyond it would mean support far beyond the objectives of nation-building, changing regime behaviour and even regime change itself, to state rupture and partition. While this cannot be ruled out, it is not a preferred option and is unlikely. The only thing that can make the international community shift to the hard option of Kosovo/South Sudan is a successful attempt on the part of the regime to unilaterally revoke or rewrite the Indo-Lanka Accord.

The UNP’s recommitment to provincial devolution within a unitary state, frees any comeback project by CBK from the pressure from the federalist elements which would make it impossible for her to compete for SLFP votes in a nationalist-patriotic setting. She can thus comfortably recommit to the B-C Pact of 1957, the 1986 PPC proposals that Vijaya and she endorsed and the 13^th amendment that they prominently supported. The advocates of federation and confederation comprising the ‘Sudu Nelum’-PTOMS faction of Chandrika’s supportive network stupidly or opportunistically nudged and cheered her down the path to the political disasters that robbed her and the country of the clear chance of a better future through persistence with the LRRP operations and a ‘Zero Dark Thirty’/Obama outcome. This would have possible had CBK remained consistently the head of a policy-making triangle consisting of Anuruddha Ratwatte and Lakshman Kadirgamar, opting for a Gaullist patriotism privileging the nation, instead of the mesalliance and dangerous liaisons she embarked upon in 2004-2005, negating her achievement of having rescued the State by brilliantly outmanoeuvring Ranil in 2003.

While a CBK comeback would be welcome if only to open up the political game, making it more competitive, she stands a chance of doing a Nawaz Sharif only if she re-emerges as Sirimavo Bandaranaike’s daughter who as commander-in-chief wrested Jaffna from Prabhakaran in 1995, led the resistance to the LTTE’s push on Jaffna countermanding the order for withdrawal from that town after the evacuation of Elephant Pass in 2000, and who gave the green-light for the deep penetration operations that took down eight top Tiger commanders and would have eliminated Prabhakaran surgically (with no ‘war crimes’ outcry) if not for Ranil’s CFA. In a comeback scenario a la Nawaz Sharif, CBK could perhaps live down her “Package”-PTOMS past and restore some measure of trust among the patriotic, pre-eminently provincial post-war electorate only if she were to balance the ticket by incorporating Gen. Fonseka as the new Anuruddha Ratwatte.

To return to the UNP’s draft, what simply fails to convince is the trident of options provided with regard to the overall system of governance. Given the experience of the abuse of power under Mrs Bandaranaike and Felix Dias, for which they both lost their civic rights under the UNP, what difference would there be if we reverted to the Westminster model with a reinforced Prime Minister? Why would a nationally elected president be hemmed in a Council of State consisting of those whose electoral base is far more parochial and therefore less legitimate? Why would Sri Lanka wish to abandon the presidential system which exists in the USA, France, Russia and China, i.e. no less than four of the five Permanent Members of the UN Security Council? With the desirable and likely activation of devolution to the Northern Province complicated by the pull factor from Tamil Nadu and the TGTE-GTF-BTF element, surely a strong Executive Presidency must be retained? Doesn’t Scotland prove that the Westminster model cannot prevent devolution turning into secessionism? Would not the establishment of the independent commissions as proposed in the draft, render the directly elected executive presidency less capable of the abuse of power and would that not be a sufficient rectification of the status quo?

Introducing the draft Constitution, Mr Wickremesinghe complained that “Mahinda Rajapaksa enjoys more power than Barack Obama”. The Presidential Constitution of ’78 already lacked the checks and balances of the US Constitution. If the present incumbent is more powerful than his predecessors – who were already less trammelled than any US president would be –it is because he enjoys a two thirds majority, breaking a barrier that was thought impregnable. President Jayewardene believed that under Proportional Representation a two-thirds majority could be obtained only by means of a bi-partisan consensus and not by any ruling coalition. Ranil’s leadership has triggered an avalanche in the UNP’s share of the national vote so dramatic that the incumbent administration has benefited from a bipartisan consensus by tectonic shift. A torrential haemorrhage of UNP votes and MPs has congealed into a ‘nationalist bloc’, titling the balance so decisively as to end the political equilibrium of the two-party system and endow the Rajapaksa presidency with the two-thirds majority needed for unilateral constitutional amendment. These voters and MPs could conceivably return, bringing along disaffected SLFP parliamentarians and altering the parliamentary balance, only if there were an ‘organic’ Oppositional option with the credibility and personality to generate a magnetic force-field; exert a ‘pull factor’.

Instead of the three constitutional options so proudly presented to the country by the UNP, it would do better to consider a single option. That is to change its own constitution so that it no longer blocks the emergence of a credible, viable presidential candidate who may have a chance to implement the fine suggestions contained in the draft that the party has just presented the country.

Senior ministers strongly warn, will resign if northern provincial election held. Decided to discuss with President

Saturday , 01 June 2013

President will take a firm decision concerning land and police powers before Northern Province election.

 

Leaders from some of the associate parties of United People Independence Front  had decided to hold vital discussions with President Mahinda Rajapakse concerning 13th amendment and Northern Province election.

 

Ministers opposing the land and police powers through 13th amendment to Northern Province council have taken a decision to meet President is according to sources.

 

If northern provincial council forms with entire powers, it would create massive crisis in the country, and a request would be submitted to President to refrain from holding the northern province council election, and failure to get a positive response from President, a strong decision would be taken to resign from the ministry positions was said by one of the senior minister from the government to “Uthayan”.

 

Before the Northern Province election, President may take a firm decision regarding land and police powers, failing President will not go for Northern Province council election, was said with confidence by the minister. Within these days the meeting will be held was said.

Lanka wants accountability on NGO funding

June 1, 2013

The Sri Lankan government says regulation, transparency and accountability of funding to NGOs and NPOs (Nonprofit Organisations) is a pre-requisite in the interest of national security and counter-terrorism as recognized by states.

Speaking during the Clustered ID with the Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association on the rights to Peaceful Assembly at the ongoing session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva yesterday (Friday), the Sri Lankan delegation highlighted the obligation placed on states to adhere to the regulatory framework all countries are expected to put in place in compliance with 40 Recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force, which makes it mandatory to monitor fund transfers of all financial institutions inclusive of NPOs and INGOs (associations) and other financial institutions, in countering financing of terrorism, money laundering or other related trans-national crimes.

“It has been Sri Lanka’s experience as a country that defeated one of the most ruthless terrorist organisations in the world, that certain NGOs and associations can also play a fundamental role in feeding terrorism and conflict.  For example, front organisations of the LTTE posing as legitimate civil society organisations and charities based overseas formed part of a complex international terrorist network which through various means injected the funding and resources needed to nurture the thirty-year terrorist conflict in Sri Lanka,” the Sri Lankan delegation said.

The Sri Lankan delegation also said that while peaceful assembly including demonstrations is permitted under the law, law enforcement authorities retain the right to disperse such assembly in the event it ceases to be peaceful and impinges on the rights of others, particularly in instances where such demonstrations lead to disturbance of public tranquillity.

“Any person who alleges violation of these rights is entitled to seek redress through the highest court of Sri Lanka or to seek relief through the National Human Rights Commission,” the Sri Lankan delegation added. (Colombo Gazette)

UK Needs Prompt Action On Human Rights Record, UN Panel Warns And Raises Serious Concerns Over UK’s Action On Sri Lankans

June 1, 2013 

The British government’s human rights record since the attacks of 9/11 and the invasion of Iraq is facing ferocious criticism from a United Nations panel, which warns that prompt action is needed to ensure the country meets its obligations under international law, the Guardian reports.

David Cameron

In a report published on Friday, the UN Committee against Torture recommends more than 40 separate measures which it says will need to be taken if the UK is to be given a clean bill of health.

While the committee has focused on the failure to hold to account those responsible for human rights abuses in the so-called war on terror, and for the mistreatment of prisoners in Iraq, it also raises a series of other serious concerns over matters that include the controversial Justice and Security Act, the forced removal of failed asylum seekers to Sri Lanka, and the failure to hold a public inquiry into the state’s involvement in the murder of Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane, the newspaper reported.

The report – which will doubtless make uncomfortable reading across Whitehall – contains the harshest criticism that the committee has yet made of a British government, the Guardian said. It is the first substantial criticism since 1992, when the UK was told that were it not for the mistreatment of terrorism suspects in Northern Ireland, it would have been found to have “met in virtually every respect” its obligations under the UN convention against torture.

Under the subheading “Deportations to Sri Lanka” , the report said;

UK Needs Prompt Action On Human Rights Record, UN Panel Warns And Raises Serious Concerns Over UK’s Action... by nelvely

Security police officer of wrongfully arrested DJ, assaulted and detained under PTA
(Lanka-e-News-01.June.2013,5.30PM) The police officer M.G. Mahinda Kithsiri(60305) who served in the security detail of District judge (DJ) of Homagama, Sunil Abeysinghe (taken into custody on a frame up falsely charged with bribery allegations ) has been detained for 90 days on a DO (detention order), according to reports reaching Lanka e news. The illegal actions surrounding the wrongful arrest of the two individuals on the 29 th night have been reported to Lanka e news.

The district judge (DJ) had been informed to visit the place in dispute where the Buddha statue and other statues of deities were, for inspection . DJ Abeysinghe who arrived at the site had ,without alighting from the vehicle sent his security officer to ensure whether the hotel is the correct site. When the police officer Mahinda had entered the hotel , a woman had given him a parcel . The startled officer had inquired ‘what is this?’, and has not even laid hands on the parcel . At that moment , a group that surrounded him had begun assaulting him fiercely. The assailants had then approached the judge inside the vehicle and seized him , whereupon the DJ who was shocked had inquired ‘what is happening here?’ The judge however had not been assaulted.

A group that claimed they are from the bribery commission and some workers of the hotel had then forcibly got into the vehicle.

The police security officer M.G. Mahinda Kithsiri(60305) is now in Prison hospital. yesterday under the signature of the defense Secretary , an order had been taken to detain him for 90 days. It is a most vexatious question and a highly debatable issue whether a DO under the Prevention of Terrorist Act can be issued based on a request made by the bribery Commission officers.

Time To Focus Attention On Risks Of Banks In Sri Lanka

By Chandra Jayaratne -May 31, 2013 

Chandra Jayaratne

Open letter to business leaders

It will be wise and timely if business leaders (and also depositors) start paying attention to the emerging potential risks across the banking sector. They should collectively engage in critical risk reviews, supported by economists, banking and finance experts and business sector leaders.

The Economic Intelligence Units of the chambers should initiate the process with a position paper to be reviewed by the chamber committees. These reviews should lead to the identification of medium term (one to three year) risks of banks and the finance sector and the likely consequential impact on the business sector and stakeholders of banks, especially depositors.
The risk mitigation strategies, strategic collective action, advocacy and communication strategies should also be developed and implemented as appropriate, in the interest of the nation, the business sector and the people.

Commercial banks and even leasing companies have initiated processes towards borrowing in foreign currency. Some of these borrowings are with State facilitation and the currency risks are swapped to the account of the State. Others may be borrowing in foreign currency, with the currency risk entirely to the account of the bank concerned.

The lack of transparency and clarity surrounding these transactions increases the associated risks. Some of these borrowings are significant in comparison with the balance sheet size of the banks concerned. Even smaller banks and leasing companies appear to have begun exercising the option of lower cost borrowings, with currency risks spared or even carrying the currency risks to its account.

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Time to Focus Attention on Risks of Banks in Sri Lanka by nelvely