Opening remarks by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay at a press conference during her mission to Sri Lanka Colombo, 31 August 2013

Good morning, and thank you for coming.

As is customary at the end of official missions such as this, I would like to makesome observations concerning the human rights situation in the country.

Opening Remarks by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay at a Press Conference During Her Missi... by nelvely

MR-Navi in uneasy talks

 August 31, 2013

• Lankans perceive UN as biased organisation, President tells Pillay
• Claims Lankans believe Pillay’s report will be full of prejudgments
• UN Envoy hails investment in post-war reconstruction
• Calls on President to build unity among communities alongside physical development
• President assures religious violence just isolated incidents
• Land rights, free expression, Weliweriya: Hot topics at Gota-Pillay talks
• Attends events to commemorate missing soldiers and civilians
• To hold media briefing prior to take off today; initial report in Sept.
• Visit draws demonstrations for and against

By Dharisha Bastians

MR-Navi in Uneasy Talks by nelvely

Sri Lanka: UN visit underscores disturbing human rights reality

 AUGUST 30, 2013

Sri Lankan leaders must address the persistent climate of fear in the country, Amnesty International said as the UN human rights chief Navi Pillay concluded her visit to the island.

Pillay, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, made her first official visit to Sri Lanka from 25-31 August. It comes just before the UN and Commonwealth review the country’s human rights situation in September.

At her concluding press conference today, Pillay stressed that many who met or wanted to meet her during the visit had been threatened by security forces, and that critical voices in Sri Lanka are “quite often attacked or even permanently silenced”.

“Navi Pillay’s take on the human rights situation during her visit very muchechoes our own findings. Being critical of government policy in Sri Lanka is highly risky, and the extent to which people are being harassed into silence is shocking,” said Polly Truscott, Amnesty International’s Deputy Asia Pacific Director.

“We’re glad that Navi Pillay got a chance to meet some victims and families of the disappeared. But the reprisals against those she met doesn’t bode well for the Commonwealth Summit set for November in Colombo. The government must stop its attacks on Sri Lankan society.”

“The Sri Lankan conflict may have ended in 2009, but the level of human rights violations in the country remains critically high. The Sri Lankan government still shows no real will to account for past crimes, combined with new attacks on those calling for accountability.”

Pillay today insisted that “ unless there is a credible national process, calls for an international inquiry are likely to continue” into the events of the armed conflict.

“There is still every need for the UN to set up an independent international investigation into crimes under international law in Sri Lanka, as Pillay has called for in the past.”

“The UN and Commonwealth must respond effectively to these latest concerns raised by Pillay,” said Truscott.

UN rights chief says Sri Lanka heading in "authoritarian direction"

By Shihar Aneez

COLOMBO | Sat Aug 31, 2013 3:17pm IST

(Reuters) - U.N. human rights chief Navi Pillay hit out against the Sri Lanka government on Saturday, saying that four years after the end of civil war people were still suffering amid signs the country was headed in an authoritarian direction.

"It is important everyone realise that although the fighting is over, the suffering is not," Pillay told a news conference at the end of a controversial fact-finding mission to assess Sri Lanka's progress after the 26-year war between the government and separatist Tamils.

"I'm deeply concerned that Sri Lanka, despite the opportunity provided by the end of the war to construct a new vibrant, all-embracing state, is showing signs of heading in an increasingly authoritarian direction."

Pillay visited the former northern war zones in Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu and the eastern district of Trincomalee, and met leaders in the capital of Colombo. The visit has sparked demonstrations for and against her mission.

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa told the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights on Friday that his people believed the U.N. is a biased organisation, and a report she was due to release next month had already prejudged the country.

A U.N. panel has said it has "credible allegations" that both sides committed atrocities and war crimes, and singled out the government for most of the blame.

Pillay said the reconstruction and the redevelopment are important achievements in the former war zones.

"However, physical reconstruction alone will not bring reconciliation, dignity, or lasting peace," Pillay said. "Clearly, a more holistic approach is needed to provide truth, justice and reparations of people's suffering during the war."

She also said that she was concerned about the degree to which the "military appears to be putting down roots and becoming involved in what should be civilian activities, for instance education, agriculture and even tourism."

Pillay's visit followed a second U.S.-sponsored U.N. resolution in March this year that urged Sri Lanka to carry out credible investigations into killings and disappearances during the civil war, especially in the final stages.

Sri Lanka has come under international pressure to bring to book those accused of war crimes and boost efforts to reconcile a polarised country. It has rejected the accusations of rights abuses, but Rajapaksa last month ordered an inquiry into mass disappearances.

(Writing by Ranga Sirilal; Editing by Jeremy Laurence)

Video: Navi Pillay’s Speech At International Day Of The Disappeared In Colombo

August 31, 2013

International Day of the Disappeared was commemorated by the ‘Families of the Disappeared’ and coalition of Civil Society Organizations in Sri Lanka on 30th August, 2013, at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute, Colombo 7. Hundreds of family members of the Disappeared from North and East as well as from the South participated for this event.

Dr. Navanethem Pillay, UN High Commissioner of Human Rights, who is on a country visit on an invitation by the Government of Sri Lanka has attended to this event and delivered a lecture as well. ‘Samabima’ has produced a video on her speech.

Live Twitter Updates: Sri Lanka Is Showing Signs Of Heading In An Authoritarian Direction – UN Human Rights Chief

Twitter coverage of the press briefing by visiting UN Human Rights Envoy Navanethem Pillay. We are updating every 4 minutes;

Tharaka Basnayaka ‏@Tharaka

Monks who claimed would protest & block #Navi #Pillai arrival at #UN office #Colombo haven’t turned up yet! #Srilanka

Read More

VIDEO: NO HONOUR IN GLORIFYING LTTE – NAVI PILLAY

The Diaspora who honour the LTTE should know that there should be no place for the glorification of such a ruthless organisation, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi  Pillay said today.

Speaking at a press conference in Colombo Pillay added that an calls for an international inquiry likely to continue unless there is a credible national process to investigate what happened at the end of the war in Sri Lanka.

Pro-LTTE network funding western politicians-MR

SATURDAY, 31 AUGUST 2013

President Mahinda Rajapaksa has accused pro-LTTE networks of using money to bribe politicians in key Western nations, in order to get them to agitate against the Sri Lankan government on human rights issues.

He also said that international networks sympathetic to the terrorist Tamil Tigers, decisively defeated in Sri Lanka's civil war in 2009, play a big role in the people-smuggling trade to Australia.

"The LTTE (Tamil Tigers) sympathiser networks have been in this business for a long time," Mr Rajapaksa said in an exclusive interview with The Australian in his Colombo office.

"It was their big money-raiser. They are still doing it today."

Mr Rajapaksa said his government was co-operating closely with Canberra to suppress the people-smuggling trade.

"We are very happy with Australia's policies," he said.

"The myth is that when you get to Australia the government will look after you, the government will give you a dole, the government will give you free medical care," he said. "We don't want this trade to happen."

Mr Rajapaksa said the defeat of the Tamil Tigers in 2009 had allowed Sri Lanka to rapidly accelerate economic and social development to the benefit of all. He also thought the defeat of the Tigers was a security benefit to many nations, including Australia, in efforts to prevent terrorist attacks.

He described the leader of the Tigers, Prabrakaran, who died in the final conflict of 2009, as "a psychopath who took a delight in killing".

Mr Rajapaksa denied that the Sri Lankan army ever deliberately killed civilians, and cited the huge numbers of Sri Lankan Tamils who fled LTTE areas to get to the protection of the government.

Rajapakse government obnoxious?

by Rajasingham Jayadevan-Saturday, August 31, 2013

( August 31, 2013, London, Sri Lanka Guardian) The dreadful and repugnant monotones in the government of Mahinda Rajapakse, whether they are clean suited academics or white attired extremists get much publicity in the Colombo media to keep the minds of Sri Lankans busy from worrying about hunger and frustration.

The sketch drawing of the three-storey house in Mangala Mawatha, Off Ramanayake Mawatha in Hokandara South of the Maverick Minister Wimal Weerawanse

Rajapakse Government Obnoxious by nelvely

Mahinda Apologises To Navi For Mervyn, Wimal And Gammanpila Remarks

August 31, 2013 

President Mahinda Rajapaksa apologised to visiting UN Human Rights Chief Navi Pillay on Friday for remarks made against her by members of his Government, after one Minister proposed marriage to her and another member of a key ally of the ruling party called her husband a terrorist.

“I was comforted by the President apology on behalf of his ministers,” Pillay told a press briefing at the UN Compound in Colombo at the end of her fact finding mission, she said had been the longest of her tenure.

Pillay hit back against criticism against her by sections of the Rajapaksa Government during her interaction with journalists, saying at least three Government ministers had joined in what she called “abuse” that had crescendoed against her during the week of her visit.

“They claim I am in the LTTE’s pay, that I am the Tamil Tigress at the UN,” Pillay charged.

She rubbished the claims as being both “wildly inaccurate” and “deeply offensive”.

President Rajapaksa told the visiting Envoy during a meeting at Temple Trees on Friday that his cabinet was made up of politicians with different views, the President’s office said in a statement last night.

Pillay also denied claims made by the President that the UN was biased saying that the country claiming to be the most developed in the world had 300 recommendations made against them during their human rights review by the Human Rights Council.

She said independent experts were right now investigating the Guantanamo Bay Prison, Special Rendition Procedures and drone strikes against civilians – all violations the US being accused of.

Pillay said the UN’s role was to hold governments to rules made by 193 governments of countries of the world, including Sri Lanka.

“The Secretary General and I and other officials are civil servants and we operate by the rules and regulations made by Governments. And those rules and regulations if violated is what the UN points out to Governments,” she said.

Some would call that criticism, but that is what the UN does, she explained. “We can’t be praising people all the time,” the visiting High Commissioner said.

“Where there are gaps we then raise a critical voice, but always with the intention to help,” Pillay said.

Related posts;

Sri Lanka steps up attack on UN rights chief
Saturday, August 31, 2013
COLOMBO: Sri Lanka ratcheted up criticism of the UN human rights body on Thursday, accusing it of repeated “vicious and baseless” allegations, as its chief visited the island to probe alleged war crimes.

Foreign Minister Gamini Lakshman Peiris told Navi Pillay that Sri Lanka “resents vicious and baseless positions which are incessantly repeated” against the island, which is emerging from decades of ethnic war. “There is a perception in the country about the lack of objectivity and fairness in the treatment meted out to Sri Lanka,” the external affairs ministry quoted Peiris as telling Pillay during talks in Colombo.

“The minister added that Sri Lanka accepts constructive and justified criticism but resents vicious and baseless positions which are incessantly repeated.”

Pillay began a week-long visit to Sri Lanka on Sunday after Colombo appeared to drop its public hostility towards her and the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), which has adopted two US-led resolutions against the island in as many years.

The UN rights chief had publicly called for a war crimes investigation into what the UN calls “credible allegations” that up to 40,000 civilians were killed during the final stages of the island’s separatist war that ended in May 2009.

Thousands of people had also disappeared, according to UN and international rights groups.

“The repeated use of baseless and arbitrary figures in respect of disappearances eventually acquire authenticity in the face of the massive propaganda that is being carried out against the government of Sri Lanka,” Peiris said.

His remarks came ahead of a meeting Pillay is due to hold with President Mahinda Rajapakse on Friday. 

Rajapakse, who returned from a visit to Belarus Wednesday, had also criticised the UNHRC of treating his Indian Ocean nation unfairly.

Earlier Thursday, Housing Minister Wimal Weerawansa accused Pillay of holding “secret meetings” with activists during her ongoing fact-finding mission.

“She broke protocol, gave the slip to her security detail and went for secret meetings in Trincomalee (in the island’s northeast) to conspire against the country,” Weerawansa told reporters in Colombo. 

“She is already planning a very adverse report.” 

Pillay’s spokesman Rupert Colville made it clear that she had not done anything wrong.

“She is doing what she always does on her missions — namely talk to a wide range of people, and collect a variety of views on human rights issues in the country in question,” Colville told AFP.

Sri Lanka’s Information minister Keheliya Rambukwella had distanced the government from his cabinet colleague Weerawansa’s remarks, saying Pillay was free to travel anywhere and speak with anyone.

“Although there is laid out protocol for visiting dignitaries, in this case we have made it clear that she as the head of the human rights body is free to go to any place and meet any body she wishes to,” Rambukwella told reporters in Colombo.

Pillay arrived in Sri Lanka last weekend for her first official visit after the government dropped its public hostility to her and promised access to the former war zones during the week-long mission.

The rights chief, who has previously been accused by Colombo of overstepping her mandate, has told reporters she was only holding Colombo to human rights standards agreed by all nations.

She travelled to former war zones in the north and the east and met relatives of people who disappeared during and after the government’s crushing of Tamil separatists. Sri Lanka has resisted foreign pressure for an international investigation into war crimes. afp

The Obsession With A “Sri Lankan Identity”

By Emil van der Poorten -September 1, 2013

Emil van der Poorten

To say that reams of paper, or the equivalent in electronic publication, have been used in belabouring what is or is not our “national identity” would be to seriously understate what has been happening in this country, particularly since the end of the war with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

One of the greater absurdities was the “abolition of minorities” that the President proclaimed at one of the early triumphalist gatherings.  One did not need to have anything resembling academic credentials in any discipline to realise that this was nothing but political sloganeering at best and an attempt to homogenize Sri Lanka in a manner that the Rajapaksa Regime thought fit, at worst, neither in any way acceptable.

What is particularly bemusing is the fact that, pretty well without exception, those who are talking about national unity, the diversity of Sri Lanka’s population and a whole other blather of terminology that I daresay even they do not have so much as a dictionary understanding of, more often than not are driven by a level of insincerity that boggles the mind.

One thing that has struck me as relevant in this discussion about “national identity” is the fact that three members of the Rajapaksa family have, not to put too fine a point on it, absolute political and fiscal control of Sri Lanka.  The relevance of that fact to this discussion will be evident to anyone who continues to read this submission to its end.

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Morality Of Navi Pillay’s Visit

By Udaya Prabhath Gammanpila -September 1, 2013 

Udaya Gammanpila

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navinethem Pillay is now in Sri Lanka.  For Tamil separatists and the opposition, she is the savior.  Some ministers have rushed to make announcements expressing their confidence in the High Commissioner for her impartiality.  However, nationalists are against her visit for several reasons.  It is our duty to place the rationale for our protest before the public as well as Pillay.

Pillay is the Chief Executive of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) which passed two resolutions against Sri Lanka in this year and the last year.  According to the resolution passed this year, she should present an oral update to the UNHRC at its 24^th session and a comprehensive report at its 25^thsession on the implementation of the UN resolution by Sri Lanka.  Hence, this is a fact finding mission on how best Sri Lanka has implemented the resolution passed by the UNHRC.

The UNHRC resolutions against Sri Lanka have alleged that Sri Lanka had violated international humanitarian and human right laws during the last stage of the war by committing war crimes on Tamil civilians.  These resolutions primarily based on the report produced by a panel appointed by the Secretary General of UN, Ban-ki Moon.  The panel consists of three members, namely, Marzuki Darusman, Yasmin Sooka and Steven Ratner.  This panel leveled several serious allegations against Sri Lanka including killing of 40,000 Tamil civilians.  Hence, Pillay is duty bound to report to the council the veracity of the report of Moon’s panel.

Pillay is not only a lawyer but an ex-judge in South Africa.  Sri Lanka and South Africa are the only countries in the world which practice Roman Dutch Legal system.   Hence, she must be familiar with natural justice principles.  One of such principles is Nemo iudex in cause sua in Latin, meaning no person can judge a case in which she has an interest.  That is because justice must not only be done but must be seen to be done.  Pillay has grossly violated this principle.Read More

SRI LANKA: From immunity to impunity: Acritique of Constitutional and statutoryimmunities in Sri Lanka

August 30, 2013

Kishali Pinto-Jayawardena*, Gehan Gunatilleke** & Prameetha Abeywickreme***

Originally published in the LST Review, Volume 23, Issue 306 & 307, April & May 2013

Introduction

The Nature of Impunity

ction petition proceedings relating to the election of the President himself under Article 130(a)of the Constitution. The Court also held that the Ceylon (Parliamentary Elections) Orderin Council of 1946 has not been elevated to constitutional status and that the requirements of joinder of parties set out in section 80A(1)(b) of the Order in Council cannot supersede Article 35(1) of the Constitution. Hence no petition can be instituted impleading the President as a respondent.

SRI LANKA  From immunity to impunity  Acritique of Constitutional and statutoryimmunities in Sri Lanka by nelvely

'Buddhism & Violence' - academics discuss Sri Lanka and Burma

31 August 2013
Discussing 'Buddhism & Violence' in a recent episode of the BBC Radio 4 program 'Beyond Belief', academics and human rights activists discussed the nature of Buddhist violence, including the texts used the justify war in the defence of Buddhism, in Sri Lanka and Burma. See here (first broadcast on 19th August 2013).

bilise public opinion drastically increases".

'Buddhism & Violence' - Academics Discuss Sri Lanka and Burma by nelvely

Fido's Honeymoon: Can Dogs Get Married? Yes, In Sri Lanka

International Business Times

By Palash Ghosh- August 28 2013 

Police officials in Sri Lanka have apologized for staging the “weddings” of nine pairs of police dogs while using Buddhist customs and symbolism during the canine's ceremonies. Associated Press reported that the nuptials, which took place on Monday in the central city of Kandy, featured dogs situated on a “poruwa” – a platform decorated with flowers and white cloth just like the ones used is traditional Sinhalese matrimonial for humans. The dog "brides" were adorned in mittens, shawls and hats while the dog "grooms" wore red ties.

The “holy unions” were registered by officials and witnessed by veterinary surgeons, doctors, senior police officers and about 1,000 members of the public who were served milk rice (rice pudding) and cake. Veterinarians even presented the “happy couples” with “marriage certificates,” which encouraged them to breed. As a bizarre addendum, the “dog couples” were even driven away by police jeeps to celebrate their “honeymoons” at the hilltop resort of Nuwara Eliya.

The incident was condemned by many, including Sri Lanka’s culture and arts minister T.B. Ekananayake who accused police of undermining the nation’s cultural beliefs. "This is not acceptable according to our cultural norms," Ekananayake told reporters. "We are people who really value out traditional weddings -- which are only done at auspicious times alongside the chanting of stanzas and [other] poruwa rituals. The police have demeaned all this by conducting this in the Kandy - the city of the [famous Buddhist] Temple of Truth. I totally condemn this."

He also called for the Inspector General of Police to conduct an immediate investigation. Several national organizations, including the Sihala Ravaya, a Buddhist group, also condemned the weddings as an insult to Sinhalese culture. The police were caught chasing their own tails.

“This program is aimed at [domestically] breeding dogs accustomed to local weather and food, thereby saving money,” said police spokesman Buddhika Siriwardena, who apologized for the stunt. But he added that in 2011 the local police department spent 70 million rupees ($526,000) to import such sniffer dogs from the Netherlands.

Police also denied that the marriage ceremony sought to offend or demean Sinhalese/Buddhist sentiments. "This did not in any way resemble a poruwa and was simply placed there for the photo opportunity," police said in the statement.

Three-fourths of Sri Lanka's population is Buddhist Sinhalese.

FIRE DESTROYS 37 HOMES IN MATTAKKULIYA

August 31, 2013 

A fire which broke out at a residence in Gemunupura, Mattakkuliya last night destroyed around 37 homes in a line of wooden houses, leaving a total of 167 persons displaced.

However, no casualties have been reported from the fire, which is said to have been caused by a lamp toppling inside one of the houses. 

The damages caused by the fire is yet to be determined while Mattakkuliya Police is conducting further investigations.