Hambantota Port receives only 24 vessels during 2011-12

THURSDAY, 25 JULY 2013

Magampura Mahinda Rajapaksa Port (MMRP) in Hambantota has received only 24 vessels in total during the years 2011 and 2012, the latest Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) Annual Report disclosed.

The first phase of MMRP, built using Chinese funding, was opened for operations in November 2010. The port which was touted as a landmark project that could challenge ports in India and Singapore had only received six ships in 2011 and 18 ships in 2012.

The Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) last year announced that all vessels carrying motor vehicles, except heavy vehicles, would be directed to MMRP in an apparent bid to increase the ship traffic at MMRP.

However, the reasons cited were the berthing delays and space constraints at Colombo Port.

The total estimated cost of the first phase of MMRP according to the SLPA was US $ 361 million and out of which 85 percent was funded by Exim Bank of China.

However, in August 2011, the SLPA said it would need additional funding of US $ 148 million to cover equipment including cranes, cost escalations in building the port and digging the basin and entrance channel.

According to the COPE report, the annual interest payable by the SLPA on MMRP amounts to: Rs.2,208 million (2012), Rs.2,479 million (2013), Rs.2,233 million (2014), Rs.1,987 million (2015) and Rs.1,742 million (2016).

To increase the income of MMRP, the SLPA said it had invited interested—both local and foreign— parties to set up business within the MMRP premises in two stages.

Under the first stage, the Cabinet has approved seven investment proposals and business venture agreements with two of the investors have already been signed.

The SLPA has informed the COPE that nine investors had been considered under stage two, who would invest US $ 1,105 million.

HRC receives 209 complaints of police harassment

By Premalal Wijerathne-2013-07-26

The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) has received 209 complaints of police harassment from the public.

Commissioner, Dr. Prathiba Mahanamahewa, said more than 200 complaints have been lodged since 1 January.

The Commissioner assured the complaints are being investigated, with the relevant parties being summoned to the HRCSL.

The investigations are being conducted under the authority vested in the Commission by the Human Rights Act of 1996.(Ceylon Today Online)

TISL urges prompt action on COPE report

  July 25, 2013 

Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL) yesterday called for prompt action on the findings and recommendations from the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) released on Tuesday.
“TISL believes that by exposing the weaknesses of public enterprises in the COPE Report 2013 and making recommendations on how improvements can be effected, the Parliamentary Committee on Public Enterprises has taken a positive step forward, and requests the President and the  Government to follow up with further investigations and meaningful sanctions,” the anti-corruption watchdog said in a statement.
TISL endorses the view that for public enterprises to be effective, they must be held accountable for their performance. To hold them accountable it is necessary to have credible sanction mechanisms that punish wrongdoers and discourage unethical behaviour.

TISL requests the CID and the Bribery Commission to investigate deals like the National Saving Bank’s Rs. 390 million investment in The Finance, BOI approval of the Hyatt Regency investment and other irregular transactions.
TISL is also encouraged by the acceptance of its written recommendation that quarterly reports of the COPE proceedings should be released for the public to be aware of issues which need immediate attention.
TISL strongly believes that the President should give serious consideration to the need for enhancing the quality of leadership of the public enterprises through the appointment of professional, experienced and skilled personnel as recommended by COPE in its report. They should be made fully answerable and accountable for their performance. This can be ensured by the maximum degree of autonomy and minimum degree of interference from above.
The responsibility for acting on the COPE report falls primarily on Parliament itself, which should, in particular, pay attention to the revelation made by COPE that 98% of the loss in public enterprises is borne by four State companies. The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC), national carrier SriLankan Airlines and Mihin Lanka have been running at massive losses since 2011, the COPE report found.
The lack of transparency and accountability has combined to create the most visible finding of the COPE report that a significant number of public enterprises are performing at a loss. The report revealed that 16 out of 72 ventures are loss making. Although public enterprises report directly to the relevant ministries, Parliament has the authority to order further investigations and compel public enterprises to act sensibly. TISL hopes that Parliament will act in accordance with COPE recommendations to revamp these institutions.
As recommended by COPE to take immediate action to raise salaries and other remuneration of high ranking posts “to avoid any possible collapse of the public sector”, TISL is of the view that the Treasury will take immediate action in this regard.
Meanwhile, TISL requests the media to take the initiative to report on issues of extreme mismanagement and corruption reported in the COPE report until meaningful action is taken to hold these enterprises accountable. The President should heed to the request made by COPE Chairman, Senior Minister D.E.W. Gunasekara, that the Executive should take suitable action on the findings and recommendations.

Burma forms constitution committee, raising hopes for Suu Kyi

By AP News Jul 26, 2013 3

YANGON, Burma (AP) — Burma’s parliament on Thursday established a committee to review the country’s constitution to consider changes that could allow opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi to become president. The changes might also allow ethnic minorities increased self-rule.

The 109-member committee includes lawmakers from all parties in parliament, including Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy and President Thein Sein’s ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party, along with the military’s allotted representatives.

Aung San Suu Kyi. Pic: AP.

The NLD considers the current constitution undemocratic because it gives the military a substantial percentage of parliamentary seats and disqualifies Suu Kyi from running for president. Ethnic minority parties seek to elect their own chief ministers in their regions, rather than have them appointed.

Conflict with ethnic minorities seeking greater autonomy has bedeviled democratic and military governments alike since Burma obtained independence from Britain in 1948, and has often involved armed rebellions. Thein Sein’s government is seeking to establish cease-fires and eventually political accords with all of them.

The constitution was drawn up under the previous military regime to ensure its continuing influence in government. The next election is in 2015.

Since coming to office in 2011, Thein Sein has instituted a series of political and economic reforms after almost five decades of repressive army rule. A major achievement was persuading Suu Kyi’s party to rejoin the electoral process after decades of government repression, and her NLD won 43 of 44 seats it contested in by-elections last year.

State television on Thursday announced a Cabinet reshuffle involving 17 positions but signaling no obviously significant changes. The ministers for energy and railways traded portfolios, as did those for industry and labor, while a new national police chief was appointed, the old one retaining his other position as deputy home minister. As is customary, no reason was announced for the changes.

Democracy in the Deep State: Sri Lanka & Egypt

Democracy in the Deep State: Sri Lanka & Egypt

Riza Yehiya-26 Jul, 2013

Photo via Straits Times, REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany

Groundviews

3rd July 2013 is a dark day in the history of Egypt and indeed in the democratic world. It was the day the deep state in Egypt in collusion with the United States, Israel, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates struck a deadly blow to the nascent democracy that is being established after 30 years of military dictatorship of Hosni Mubarak. It used an artificially manufactured dissent group called ‘The Rebel’ created on 30th May to cover the military coup with a democratic garb. It is unprecedented in the 21st Century political history to depose a democratically elected president on the eve of celebrating the 1st year in office of a term of four years. This is hilarious as well and displays how flimsy the nature of democracy in the modern world is. Post revolution  Egyptians elected President Mohamed Morsi in a free and fair election gaining more than 50% vouched by the international election monitors as free and fair, one year later the deep state and the U.S. funded mercenaries put people on streets and robbed the presidency and the constitution popularly adopted by people with more than 63%.  This reminisces the return of the Shah of Iran by deposing the democratically elected Musaddek in the 1950s. This shows how the deep state stayed dormant to strike back to reinstate the previous pro-military, U.S/Israel friendly government to power at the expense of the legitimate democratic rights of the Egyptian people, and shows how the so called paragons of the democratic world overtly became silent in condemning the coup whilst looking for alternative words to call it something less than a coup. Western hypocrisy is blatantly visible in many conflict zones, when Saddam Hussain was killing his citizens, they were silent and colluded, and called him their bastard, but when he reneged to obey them, he and his country was bombed to the stone age by them. This is how the West deals with their client states and use democracy as tool to stifle and manipulate subservience to them and not to be free and independent nations. Evidently, this also shows the very evil nature of the ‘Rebel’, the military and those who colluded to rob the revolution. As of now that there are a multitude of more Pro Mursi and Pro Constitution Egyptians citizens on the streets demonstrating against the coup, many times more than the Rebels and opposition prior to their coup. If Egyptian democracy is a number game as displayed by the proponents of the coup, then by now President Mursi and the Constitutions should be reinstated back as legitimate and democratic. This will not happen. The reason the deep state struck back was that President Mursi and the Constitution was mandated to serve Egypt and its citizens only and they did. They did not  serve the interests of the U.S the other Arab client states of the U.S.

Continue reading »

An Eyewitness Account of the Welikade Prison Massacre

Ilankai Tamil Sangam

by S. A. (Solomon Arulanandam) David, November 1983

Dr. Rajasundaram walked up to the door and pleaded with them to  spare us as we were not involved in any robberies or murders and as Hindus we did not believe in violence and as Buddhists they should not kill. The door suddenly opened and Dr.Rajasundaram was dragged out and hit with a iron rod on the head. He fell dead among the crowd. The rest of us broke the chairs and tables  in the cell and managed to keep the crowd at bay for half an hour. The Army arrived, threw tear gas bombs and dispersed the crowd. The two soldiers lined up eight of us and were taking aim to shoot us when the Commander called out from below to them to come down. Then the soldiers chased us down and all who escaped death were lined up on the foot path in front of Youth Ward. As we walked out we saw corpses of our colleagues around us and we were allowed to live.

Gandhiyam - An Appeal for Support by S.A. David in Tamil Times, 1982, p. 8

Veteran Tamil activist and humanist reaches 88 in exile

---------------------------------------------

From "Detention, Torture and Murder" by S.A. David, B.A. (Architecture) Melbourne, Diploma in Town Planning (Leeds, UK), the then President of the Gandhiyam Society, and published in November 1983. The writer was one of the lucky ones who escaped death in the infamous Welikade Prison Massacre in July 1983. He later escaped from the Batticaloa jail. First posted in 'TamilNation.'

Under the Buddha Dharma regime of President J.R. Jayawardene in Sri Lanka anyone can be arrested and detained without trial, anyone can be murdered and buried without inquest.

S.A. David

Still  Sri Lanka is a model democracy of the third world praised and supported by the Capitalist nations of the world led by America and followed by Germany, Japan, Britain and the White Common Wealth and the Arabs. This is a crying shame to the intelligence' and conscience of 20th Century humanity.

Although the Prevention of Terrorism Act refer to the whole of Sri Lanka its application has been reserved for the Tamils and particularly the Tamil youth.

Under the PTA of Sri Lanka a person can be detained for periods upto 18 months (renewable by order every three months) if the  Minister has reason to believe or suspect that any person is connected with or concerned in any unlawful activity. Unlawful activity includes even pasting posters on walls punishable with death.

Welikade Prison 2007?

An Eyewitness Account of the Welikade Prison Massacre by nelvely

The Resurgent Spirit Of Black July

by Tisaranee Gunasekara-Thursday, July 25, 2013

“….anyone who dresses or speaks differently is not simply a different person, but a different animal from a different sty with whom there can be no accommodation, and who must be hated and hounded out”. - Victor Klemperer (The Language of the Third Reich)

( July 25, 2013, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian)The spirit of Black July is not dead. It is alive; triumphantly, confidently and self-righteously alive.

The politico-economic and socio-psychological premises which enabled the shameful carnage of Black July did not emerge from a vacuum, instantly. The actual killing and the pillaging may have been the work of a criminally-inclined minority; but these miscreants could not have indulged in their fanatical desires with such brutal and deadly abandon, without the consent of state-entities and the approbation of a societal-majority. Had the state made a serious attempt to impose order, had society not discarded basic humanity and ordinary decency, no minority, however fanatical, however intoxicated by hate, could have continued that orgy of Tamil-hunting, day after day, for almost two weeks.

The Resurgent Spirit of Black July by nelvely

30 Years Since Sri Lanka Race Attacks

Jul-24-2013 

The 1983 Black July pogroms were the beginning of a history of persecution and racist violence for Sri Lanka's Tamils. Liam Brown reminds our politicians why there are so many Tamil refugees.

(COLOMBO, Sri Lanka) - Today marks marks the 30th anniversary of a watershed moment in Sri Lankan history: the Black July pogrom against members of the Tamil ethnic group. The pogrom claimed the lives of perhaps thousands of people, displaced thousands more and marked a start to the civil war that would consume the country for nearly 30 years.

Black July and its origins are worth discussing, if for no other reason than the recent attacks on the rights of asylum seekers and the prevailing perception that there is no persecution of Tamils in Sri Lanka.

The pogrom took place in July 1983, by ethnic majority Sinhalese. It was not a spontaneous outburst of violence, as is commonly thought. Rather, it was a well-planned, calculated attack upon the minority group in an attempt to drive them from the island’s main population areas. This was the finding of a detailed report by the International Commission of Jurists following the events.

Photo by Sangam.org

30 Years Since Sri Lanka Race Attacks by nelvely

30 Years Later, Sri Lanka at a Political Crossroads

Dinouk Colombage

Journalist in Sri Lanka

Thirty years on since Sri Lanka's infamous Black July riots, the country has reached a political crossroads. In those three decades ethnic violence has engulfed the country, leaving its society divided. With the war having ended in 2009, the country and its leaders have the opportunity to pursue the path of reconciliation. The efforts, however, are being thwarted by all involved, neither party is willing to compromise, leaving the country's future looking bleak.

On July 23 1983, rioting spread across the country with mobs of Sinhalese targeting Tamil homes and businesses. The violence was in response to a deadly ambush in Jaffna by the LTTE which killed 13 soldiers. In the space of one week it is estimated that hundreds of Sri Lankan Tamils were killed, thousands fled the country and numerous Tamil youth in the North and East joined separatist groups.

This was but a precursor to the 26-year civil war that would follow, which saw greater violence against all ethnic groups and a further division of an already volatile country.

Now, with the opportunity to build a lasting peace on the doorsteps of the country, political turmoil is threatening to once again plunge Sri Lanka in to a greater ethnic crisis.

Sri Lanka's coalition government has been unable to restart the stalled reconciliation efforts with the country's minorities. Proposed constitutional change in the wake of what has been a delayed announcement of the Northern Provincial Council (NPC) elections has left domestic and international observers questioning the regime's dedication to the process.

The announcement this year that the Northern Province would vote in its first ever Provincial council was greeted with guarded enthusiasm. For the minority Tamils living in the Jaffna peninsula, the creation of a Provincial Council would give them their first taste of self-governance.

The creation of Provincial Councils in Sri Lanka followed the signing of the Indo-Lanka Accord in 1987. Through the introduction of the 13th Amendment to the constitution, the rule of provincial councils (PCs) was written in to law. This was an initiative to devolve certain powers to the provinces, in hope that it would end the ongoing civil war in the country. By 1988 eight provincial councils had been elected, with the Northern and Eastern provinces being administered by a single provincial council (the North-East Provincial Council).

In 1990, the chief minister of the North-East Provincial Council (NEPC), Annamalai Varatharajah Perumal, moved a motion in the council to declare the region independent of the central government.

Sri Lanka's President, Ranasinghe Premadasa, dissolved the PC and imposed direct rule of the region from the capital. It was not until 2008 that the Eastern Province was demerged from the NEPC and allowed to hold its own provincial council elections.

Now, in 2013, Sri Lanka will see the first ever North Provincial Council elections in the country. On the surface this a step forward after 26 years of ethnic unrest that saw the region isolated from the rest of the country.

Yet the nationalist parties have expressed reservation about holding an election in the North until alterations have been made to the 13th Amendment. As has been expected the fallout from these demands has been widespread. Locally, members of the opposition and senior Ministers of the ruling coalition have both voiced concerns over these attempts to dilute the amendment. Internationally, Sri Lanka's big brother to the north, India, has warned the government that unless they implement the 13th Amendment fully, and go further, Sri Lanka could not rely on their further support.

While India's support for the ruling regime has been sparse in the recent past, as seen through their decision to vote against Sri Lanka at the UNHRC summit this year, further isolation would be disastrous.

The government will be under heavy scrutiny in the lead up to the 2013 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, which Sri Lanka is to host in November. Any further show of disapproval by India towards their neighbor at this event will result in Sri Lanka dropping further in its international standings.

While the ruling coalition continues to maintain a comfortable 2/3rd majority in Parliament, those in the opposition who have voiced their dissatisfaction have been left screaming at a wall. However, it is the dissent from within the government, with the leaders of the Leftist parties and senior ministers contesting the government's intentions, that poses the largest threat.

These individuals have claimed that the government is threatening to repeat the mistakes of the past by not effectively devolving power to the minorities through the Provincial Councils. According to the constitution land, police and taxation powers will all fall under the purview of these Councils.

Supporters of the devolution of power have argued that only when police powers are governed by a local council that law and order can prevail. The language barrier that exists in the country, the majority in the North and East speak Tamil while the rest of the country converses in Sinhala, has led to concerns that a centrally controlled police force would not be able to confer in the locally spoken dialect.

However, opposition to the 13th Amendment has arisen from fears that any separation from the central government would encourage fresh demands for a separate state. Those who have made demands for a dilution of the amendment accept devolution of power can take place, provided it is done in a closely monitored and limited manner.

While these concerns may be justified, skepticism arises from the fact that several Provincial Council elections have been held since the conclusion of the war without any similar arguments being aired.

Sri Lanka has paid the highest price to achieve the peace it now enjoys. Yet the state of affairs in the country does not allow for the justification of such a price. The inability of politicians to do what has been asked of them by the people has left the country threatening to squander the bloodied peace that was achieved.

Sri Lanka’s Black July: What Really Happened At Kanatte?

By Rajan Hoole -July 25, 2013

Rajan Hoole

As indicated above, there are different versions and impressions about what happened at Kanatte on the 24th evening. We give below crucial pieces of testimony, which help to fill some glaring gaps. The first is an eyewitness account by a responsible member of the Ceylon Mercantile Union and is extracted from a statement issued by the General Secretary, dated 23rd August 1983:

“According to our member’s statement, he had first gone to the funeral parlour of A.F. Raymond & Co. near Kanatte cemetery, in the afternoon of Sunday, the 24th July, on a message given to him by the Police, as he was a close relative of one of the soldiers killed in Jaffna the previous night. The relative had been informed by the Police at about noon on Sunday that they could take the dead soldier’s body for removal to their home town. Later that evening, they and the relatives of other soldiers who had been killed in Jaffna who had assembled there were informed that all the bodies would be brought for burial at Kanatte that evening.
“They went to the cemetery, accordingly, and a huge crowd had assembled there. While they were waiting for the bodies to be brought for several hours, the relatives of the dead soldiers had objected to the bodies being buried at Kanatte. A clash with the Police in the cemetery had taken place when the graves were being closed by many of those who had objected to the burial at Kanatte.

“Later that night, a high official of the Ministry of Defence (said to be General Attygalle) had announced that the relatives would be allowed to take the bodies from Army Headquarters to their respective home towns or villages. Our member had been taken to Army Headquarters thereafter in an Army truck with other relatives. They had removed the body of their dead relative in the early hours of Monday (25th July) for burial in their hometown.
“Our member stated that he had come to know that attacks had taken place on Tamil owned shops at Borella, and other places on Sunday night, only after he had gone to the Army Headquarters around midnight. Before that he had heard hooting from the direction of the Borella junction when he was on his way to the Army Headquarters. He was positive that at no time, throughout the period of about 8 hours that he had been near or inside the Kanatte cemetery, had he heard or noticed anything amongst the people assembled there or amongst the large number of army personnel and police who were there, which indicated that reprisals against Tamil people or their property were being contemplated. The only resentment that had manifested itself at the cemetery was against the contemplated burial of the bodies of the dead soldiers at Kanatte.”

This statement clears up several points. One is that, the mood at Kanatte was, if anything, anti-government. Those living closeby towards Rajagiriya had also testified that the dominant cry they heard was the demand for giving the bodies to the next-of-kin.

 Read More

Sikh Solidarity in Remembrance of Black July

Exactly one year before the Sikh Genocide in 1984, mobs in Sri Lanka used petrol oil to burn Tamils alive. During this period Tamil homes, businesses and families were attacked, busses were checked for Tamil passengers and all other vehicles were similarly searched.

What many Tamils refer to as “Black July” is suspiciously similar to incidents that took place across India one year later in what is known as the 1984 Sikh Genocide. The massacre of Tamils is so strikingly similar that one could even argue that it could have provided a blueprint for the Indian states genocide against Sikhs.

An example of the image shown here, strikes a chord in the heart of Sikhs, it is illustrative of images that depict similar scenes in Delhi, November 1984.  The picture shown, depicts a Tamil youth stripped naked as a mob dances around him moments before he is soaked in petrol oil and burnt alive.

In remembrance of the 30 Anniversary of Black July,  The Sikh Activist Network has issued a statement of solidarity with the Tamil community, found below:

STATEMENT OF SIKH-TAMIL SOLIDARITY IN REMEBRANCE OF BLACK JULY

TORONTO – It is with a profound sense of solidarity that The Sikh Activist Network marks the 30th Anniversary  of the Tamil Genocide during Black July.

Approximately one year before a similar massacre of Sikhs - Sri Lanka was host to the organized and mass killings of Tamils across the country.  The murder, looting and targeted destruction of Tamil owned property was well organized.  As mobs armed with petrol roamed the streets, Tamils were targeted and burnt alive. Members of the Tamil community were also knifed and/or clubbed to death.

The Sikh community extends it’s solidarity during this time. As a community that was also victim to a Government orchestrated and organized genocide by the Indian state in 1984, Sikhs share a similar trauma, history and struggle.

As one sovereign people to another, Sikhs stand in solidarity with Tamils in their peaceful pursuit of social justice and freedom in India, Sri Lanka and abroad.

Welikade Prison Massacre 1983

Ilankai Tamil Sangam

by TamilNation, T. Sabaratnam & UTHR

In speeches from the dock, the two men announced that they would donate their eyes in the hope that they would be grafted on to Tamils who would see the birth of Eelam, the independent state they were fighting. Second hand reports from Batticaloa gaol, where the survivors of the Welikada massacre are now being kept, say that the two men were forced to kneel and their eyes gouged out with iron bars before they were killed. One version has it that Kutimani's tongue was cut out by an attacker who drank the blood and cried: "I have drunk the blood of a Tiger." The two men were among the 35 killed in the Welikada gaol on July 25. Another 17 were killed in the gaol two days later and the Guardian has obtained a first hand account of part of the fighting in this incident, including the circumstances in which Sri Lanka's Gandhian leader, Dr. Rajasunderam, died.

Report by T. Sabaratnam, written in 2004, entitled 'Massacre of Prisoners' posted on Sangam website

...Prison Riots

Police knew about the Welikada Prison riots around 2.45 p.m. At that time, the following conversation was heard on the police radio network.

Entrance to Welikada Prison

South 2 to South 1- There is a serious situation in the prisons. The Tamil prisoners are being killed. Mr. Janz is seeking police assistance. We can’t get there. The army is in control.

South 1 to South 2- If the army is in control, we had better keep off. We can’t afford to have a rub with the army.

South 2 to South 1- Received Sir, Roger.

Christopher Theodore Jansz was the Acting Prison Commissioner. Prisons Commissioner J. P. Delgoda was out of the country.

Trouble in the Welikada Prison started at 2:00 p.m. As the clock struck 2:00, 300 to 400 prisoners who were outside their cells ran towards the Chapel Section of the Welikada Prison, the high security jail in Sri Lanka. “Kill the Tamils,” they shouted. Some barked, “Kill Kuttimani.”... [for remainder click link here]

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From Tamil Nation

http://www.tamilnation.org/indictment/genocide83/gen09.htm

INDICTMENT AGAINST SRI LANKA

Black July 1983: the Charge is Genocide

Fifty three Tamil prisoners were murdered whilst in government custody Dr.S.Rajasunderam Selvarajah Yogachandran (Kuttimuni) Nadarajah Thangathurai Fifty three Tamil prisoners were murdered whilst in government custody. Thirty five Tamil political prisoners (held in custody under the infamous Sri Lanka Prevention of Terrorism Act, which was described by the International Commission of Jurists as 'an ugly blot on the statute book of any civilised country') were killed within the walls of the high security Welikade prison, in Colombo, on 25 July. Two days later, on 27 July, 18 more Tamil political prisoners were killed within the confines of the same Welikade prison.                            Read More

CPA’s FR Challenge To Mohan Pieris’ De Facto CJ Appointment – 5 Judges Bow Down & CPA’s Counsels Bow Out In Protest

July 25, 2013 

A fundamental rights case by the Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) challenging the controversial installing of Mohan Pieris as de facto Chief Justice, fundamental rights cases challenging the so called impeachment of Chief Justice Dr. Shirani Bandaranayake disregarding Appeal Court and Supreme Court rulings, and cases challenging the validity of the controversial Parliament Standing Order 78A which was used to remove Bandaranayake without following basic principles of Natural Justice were taken up today (25.07.2013).

Mohan Pieris

The cases were specially fixed before a bench of 5 judges chosen by Pieris. The judges were Saleem Marsoof (PC), Chandra Ekanayake, Sathya Hettige (PC), Eva S. Wanasundera (PC) and Rohini Marasinghe.

When the fundamental rights case by the CPA was taken up, counsel M. A. Sumanthiran told the court that like on the previous date, he points out that it is very wrong for Mohan Pieris (6th Respondent in the case) to pick some judges and leave others out in his own case. He said all judges must assemble and hear the case without the 6th Respondent playing any part in the process for hearing and deciding the case. Justice Marsoof said whatever it is, there is someone functioning as the Chief Justice and they have to obey his directives. Justice Hettige asked how many cases Sumanthiran has appeared in before Mohan Pieris. Sumanthiran responded that this is only because he is acting as de facto Chief Justice and not because he is legally the Chief Justice. But he said, it is very wrong for Pieris to play any role in the conduct of his own case, where he is a respondent party and has personal interest. This is the proper way to question and challenge the appointment, he added. He said that it is the duty of all Supreme Court judges to assemble and hear the case as it is their duty to do so. If any judges have any difficulty, he pointed out that under international standards and decided cases, they must come on the bench and state in public what their reluctance is. There must be transparency he said.

Deputy Solicitor General Shavindra Fernando objected to Sumanthiran’s request. Sumanthiran said if the judges want, he is even willing as a compromise to technically make an application to 6th Respondent Pieris (de facto CJ) that all judges must be allowed to sit by nomination, without any choice being made by him. However DSG Fernando appearing for the AG objected strongly to this request, saying Pieris alone must make a choice of the judges he wants for the case. The judges did not take the compromise proposal after DSG Fernando said that the judges might be found fault with if they ask CJ to nominate all judges.

Read More

Vigneswaran to the North; Shirani to the South? 2013-07-24  'Justice Vigneswaran has consented to a media interview regarding growing threats against the judiciary.' Editor of The Sunday Leader, Lasantha Wickrematunga, who was brutally gunned down in 2009, spoke of C.V. Vigneswaran's decision to talk to the media with some surprise. It happened close on the heels of a Supreme Court order to imprison S.B. Dissanayake for contempt of Court. None had the nerve, nor dared, to challenge the then Chief Justice, Sarath N. Silva. It was at such a time that Vigneswaran came forward to talk about the breakdown in the system of justice in the country under Chief Justice, Sarath N. Silva, during the government of Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga. In that interview, Vignenswaran did not talk about either Norway or the Norway-sponsored peace process. Instead, he harshly criticized the erosion of law and order and the rule of law in the country affecting all communities, be they Sinhalese, Tamils or Muslims. Vigneswaran, who has much unpretentious credentials, has now thrown down the gauntlet, entering the fray for the coveted Chief Minister post. The Tamil National Alliance (TNA), which succeeded in getting a unanimous vote over his nomination, has earned kudos from one and all for its choice of a crusader for rule of law as the Chief Ministerial candidate.    Political minnows One could ask why the United National Party (UNP) could not or would not adopt such an innovative political strategy. This is a good question by all means. Before the all encompassing might of the Mahinda Rajapaksa Government, the UNP too, like the TNA has contracted to the size of political minnows. The TNA and the Tamil anti-government elements inherited this ignominious fate as a direct consequence of Rajapaksa's war victory. The Tamils were able to stand on their own when the Tamil Tiger Supremo, V. Prabhakaran, was ruling the roost in the North. However, when Rajapaksa broke the back of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and destroyed Prabhakaran, the Tamils were left without a lifeline to hang onto. The TNA and the Tamils were left without leaders of any consequence. The LTTE had made certain that no claimant to leadership was left behind to lead the Tamil people. Any leader who could be a threat to the LTTE leadership was mercilessly destroyed. Appapillai Amirthalingam, Siva Sittampalam, Neelan Tiruchelvam et al were summarily dispatched and Veerasingham Anandasangaree was rendered an impotent politician. Prabhakaran allowed only a puppet troupe of innocuous and inconsequential politicians to operate under the TNA label. And with Prabhakaran's downfall, they turned out to be a rudderless ship floating aimlessly in a sea full of hopelessness. Analysts were predicting a break-up and a requiem for the TNA, which had only India's help and nothing else to depend on. Then in a brilliant display of political maturity, the TNA selected Vigneswaran to contest the Northern Provincial Council election as its Chief Ministerial candidate. At a very crucial moment, the TNA found a leader for the Tamil people, who could challenge Mahinda Rajapaksa in the political chess games ahead. The UNP is in the same predicament as the TNA. The Party is in shambles after repeated election debacles. Mahinda Rajapaksa's war victory caused havoc for the UNP, similar to what it did to the TNA. After many desertions from its ranks, it has now become a lame duck political entity. Rajapaksa's sleight of hand political manoeuvre now keeps the ineffectual remnants of the Opposition on constant tenterhooks. In fact, they are reduced to dancing to Rajapaksa's tune. He knows very well the Opposition's election fortunes are constantly in the wane. Challenging Mahinda Rajapaksa In this backdrop, those who oppose the government are looking for a leader who could give leadership to challenge Mahinda Rajapaksa on the political turf; just like the Tamils discovered Vigneswaran. It is reminiscent of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) discovering Chandrika Kumaratunga in 1994, to challenge the then government at the Western Provincial Council election. She became its Chief Minister and later led the Party to a remarkable election victory in the General Election to become Prime Minister. Vigneswaran, in like manner is hitching his wagon to the soaring popularity among Tamil people to become their leader by winning the North and becoming its Chief Minister. With the arrest and incarceration of Sarath Fonseka just after the Presidential Election in 2010, the biggest challenge to Mahinda Rajapaksa was posed by the Judiciary, when he removed Chief Justice, Dr. Shirani Bandaranayake, through an impeachment motion brought against her in Parliament. In quick succession to the unfolding politico legal drama, the Bar Association of Sri Lanka also elected a maverick lawyer, Upul Jayasuriya, as its president adding more muscle to a probable legal putsch from opposition ranks. Vigneswaran from North too carries the legal mantle by the very fact that he is a former Justice of the Supreme Court. He was also an active participant in Shirani's camp during the time of the impeachment. Does this mean Shirani Bandaranayake should come forward to challenge the powers that be? It is in the hands of opposition parties. If the Opposition in the South possesses the same maturity and wisdom displayed by the TNA in the North, the above conjecture will not be too far off the mark.