Institutional Implications Of The JSS And Black July

By Rajan Hoole -

Rajan Hoole

Sri Lanka’s Black July – Part 24

What appears on the surface as a good reason against the violence of July 1983 being organised comes from persons who knew the prominent cabinet members well, say as journalists. It is pointed out that there were rival factions within the UNP engaged in bitter power struggles. For this reason, it is argued, they were thoroughly incapable of sitting down together and planning something so scandalous and full of dangerous repercussions as the July 1983 violence. Could one for example imagine arch- rivals Premadasa, Gamini Dissanayake and Athulathmudali having got together and planned the violence? How much co-operation could one expect from similar aspirants in the present government?                                                                Read More

To be continued..

Part one - Sri Lanka’s Black July: Borella, 24th Evening

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

Part three - Black July: ‘Api Suddha Kara’ – JR’s Failure To Declare Curfew

Part four - Sri Lanka’s Black July: The Cover Up

Part five -  30th July 1983: The Second Naxalite Plot

Part six  - Black July: The Testimony Of Lionel Bopage, Then General Secretary Of The JVP

Part seven - Black July: Thondaman & Muttetuwegama

Part eight - What Was Behind Tiger Friday – 29th July? -The Significance Of The Pettah

Part nine - Tamil Merchants In The Pettah – Post July 1983

Part ten –  Sri Lanka’s Black July: A Family’s Tragedy In Colombo

Part eleven -  Sri Lanka’s Black July: The Question Of Numbers

Part twelve –  Welikade Prison Massacres: The First Massacre: 25th July 1983

Part thirteen –  Welikade Prison Massacres: Testimonies Given At The Magistrate’s Inquest

Part fourteen -  Circumstances Leading To The Magistrate’s Inquest

Part fifteen - Welikade Prison: The Second Massacre: 27th July 1983

Part sixteen - Welikade Prison Massacres: Chief Jailor Observed Army Commandos Coming In

Part seventeen - Welikade Prison Massacres: Postscript

Part eighteen - July 1983: Planned By The State Or Spontaneous Mob Action?

Part nineteen - July 1983: Ranil Wickremasinghe Followed Cyril Mathew

Part twenty - Events Of 24th July – The Eve Of The Holocaust: Who Wanted A Military Funeral?

Part twenty one –  Events Of 24th July: What Were The Army’s Orders?

Part twenty two - Black July: Further Evidence Of Advance Planning

Part twenty three - Black July: The JSS Goon Squad Regime

*From Rajan Hoole‘s “Sri Lanka: Arrogance of Power  - Myth, Decadence and Murder”. Thanks to Rajan for giving us permission to republish. To be continued..

Opening Statement by Ms. Navi Pillay United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights at the Human Rights Council 24th Session

9 September 2013

Mr. President,
Distinguished Members of the Human Rights Council,
Excellencies and Colleagues,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

Thank you for this opportunity to address you.

In September two years ago, when I addressed the situation in Syria at this Council, I pointed out that some 2,600 Syrians had already died in the conflict.

Today the number of dead stands at over 100,000. Last week the number of refugees reached two million, and an additional 4 million people are displaced inside Syria. Camps in neighbouring lands are struggling to cope and we are just a few months away from winter. The suffering of Syria’s civilian population has reached unimaginable levels.

Opening Statement by Ms. Navi Pillay United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights at the Human Rights... by nelvely

Lawyer's Rights Watch Canada commemorates Sunila Abeseykara's life at UNHRC

11 September 2013

Lawyer’s Right Watch Canada (LRWC), commemorated Sunila Abeseykara’s life at the United Nations Human Rights Council.

Watch full statement from one of the LRWC directors, Gary Anandasangaree, below. 

State persecution of Tamils continues - Liberation, NGO
10 September 2013
Liberation, a London-based NGO submitted a report on the human rights situation in Sri Lanka to the UN Human Rights Council, in which it warned of the continuation of “the Sri Lankan state’s acts of genocide” “in the absence of any accountability”.

Of the overall situation in Sri Lanka, Liberation said:

“The conventional war was brought to an end with heavy civilian casualties. Subsequently the violence faced by the surviving Tamil population has escalated to new levels. Instead of taking genuine steps to bring about lasting peace, the Sri Lankan state has chosen the path of: triumphalism, subjugation, deprivation and increased state terror against the Tamil people.”

“The Sri Lankan state continues to persecute of the Tamil people, depriving them of their land and livelihoods in various ways. Senior cabinet ministers openly support Sinhala/Buddhist extremist organisations which whip up racial and religious hatred against non-Sinhala/Buddhist communities. Attacks on non-Sinhala/Buddhist people, their property and cultural identities are carried out in the presence of the Sri Lankan police. Video evidence shows the police providing protection to the attackers during their criminal acts.”

Liberation further criticised the Sri Lankan government’s “development deception” and also detailed human rights violations against refugees and internally displaced persons and detainees.

See here for full report.

The Post-War Wars

by Tisaranee Gunasekara-Thursday, September 12, 2013

“ The war will stop only after all the enemies who acted to the detriment of their motherland were brought to book irrespective of whether they were local or international”.

- Gotabhaya Rajapaksa (Indian Express – 11.8.2009).

( September 12, 2013, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) If the LTTE wanted what the TNA is asking for, the Eelam War would have ended long before 2009, in a negotiated solution.

Vellupillai Pirapaharan did not want federalism or even confederation. He wanted Tiger Eelam, a state wholly owned by and totally subservient to him. His maximum programme was his only programme. Had he wanted anything less than Eelam, he would have accepted either the Oslo Declaration (federalism in a single country, supported by the SLFP and the UNP1) or the quasi-separationist ISGA. He rejected both as betrayals. Eventually he engineered the defeat of Ranil Wickremesinghe and the victory of Mahinda Rajapaksa, because he wanted to escape peace and re-embrace war.

The Post-War Wars by nelvely

A post-mortem on Navi Pillay’s visit

Thursday, 12 Sep 2013

Madam Navi Pillay, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, concluded her Sri Lankan tour last week. It was her longest foreign tour.  The objective of her visit was to investigate and report to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) at its 24th and 25th sessions about the alleged war crimes committed during the last phase of the war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).    We, the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU), objected to her arrival on the basis that prima facie, she did not appear to be impartial.

A post-mortem on Navi Pillay’s visit by nelvely

Pillay incurs Sri Lanka’s wrath

REUTERS

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Pillay was in Sri Lanka to assess the wide range of allegations on human rights violations during and after a nearly three-decade war. The writer says Pillay expressed shock at the levels of trauma and emotional distress she encountered in those she met from the north and east.

By ALAN KEENAN-September 12 2013

Concluding her recent fact-finding trip to Sri Lanka, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay warned that President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s government was “heading in an increasingly authoritarian direction… despite the opportunity provided by the end of the war to construct a new vibrant, all-embracing state”.

Pillay’s statement cited a long and growing list of serious human rights problems, including “persistent impunity and the failure of rule of law”.

Pillay incurs Sri Lanka’s wrath by nelvely

TNA Manifesto-For Power Sharing or Separation?

by Austin Fernando-12 September 2013,

Justice C.V. Wigneswaran and R. Sampanthan, TNA Leader at recent party event releasing the manifesto

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has launched its Manifesto for the Northern Provincial Council (NPC) Elections. I am reminded of a former Prime Minster commenting on election Manifestoes as publications facilitating electoral victory and nothing more! If the TNA was of the same frame of mind and mood, it must be happy with their document, because it addresses some vote catching rhetoric, although beyond the capacity of the NPC to deliver.

TNA Manifesto-For Power Sharing or Separation by nelvely

There Will Be Another UN Resolution On Sri Lanka, Cameron Should Reconsider His Decision To Attend CHOGM – UK’s All Party Parliamentary Group For Tamils

September 12, 2013

“The oral report of the UN High Commissioner to the Human Rights Council in Geneva relating to Sri Lanka will be presented in late September this year, and we hope that our Prime Minister, will carefully consider the findings of the UN high Commissioner and reconsider his decision to attend CHOGM 2013 in Sri Lanka.” says the UK’s All Party Parliamentary Group for Tamils.

Issuing a statement last night APPGT said; “In the next UN resolution to be decided in Geneva in March 2014, the UK should continue to support the call for accountability and justice for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, through an international mechanism.”

We publish below the statement in full;

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay’s visit to Sri Lanka

The All Party Parliamentary Group for Tamils (APPGT) welcomes the visit by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay and we acknowledge the observations she made during her mission in Sri Lanka.

Cameron

On 31st of August 2013, in an initial media statement, High Commissioner Pillay said “It is important everyone realises that, although the fighting is over, the suffering is not”. This is also the message which members of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Tamils are hearing from Tamils in the UK, as their loved ones continue to suffer under the military control of the North and East by the Sri Lankan Armed Forces.

Dr Pillay further said: “There are a number of specific factors impeding normalisation, which – if not quickly rectified – may sow the seeds of future discord.” “These are by and large to do with the curtailment or denial of personal freedoms and human rights, or linked to persistent impunity and the failure of rule of law.”        Read More

C4 steps up Sri Lanka campaign 12 September, 2013

 Thursday, 12 September 2013 

Channel 4 News and documentary maker Callum Macrae are to travel to Sri Lanka to cover the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) as they continue to highlight war crimes committed against the country’s minority Tamil population.

Macrae’s feature-length documentary No Fire Zone recounts the 138 days of brutal violence carried out by the Singhelese majority government against Sri Lanka’s minority Tamil population in 2009, in which thousands died.

It follows on from two 2011 documentaries produced and directed by Macrae – Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields and Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields: War Crimes Unpunished – which have led to calls from many nations for an independent investigation.

On 14 November, Sri Lanka will be hosting CHOGM, which is set to be attended by leaders representing more than one third of the planet.

Speaking at No Fire Zone’s London premiere last week, Macrae said: “I deeply regret that CHOGM is taking place in Sri Lanka and that for the next two years the chair will be President Rajapaksa. Sri Lanka will be in charge of enforcing the Commonwealth commitment to human rights, justice and the rule of law.”

Using mobile phone footage recorded by civilians under attack, as well as by the Sri Lankan military, No Fire Zone is a catalogue of evidence depicting war crimes.

Targeting delegates

At the premiere, attended by C4 chief executive David Abraham, head of news and current affairs Dorothy Byrne, foreign dignitaries and human rights campaigner Bianca Jagger, Macrae emphasised the importance of distributing the fi lm as widely as possible.

C4 News presenter Jon Snow, who chaired a Q&A, said: “It is essential that somehow everybody in this room tries to get this fi lm to every delegation that attends the Commonwealth conference.”

C4 is backing a free app launching on iOS that will allow people to watch the entire feature-length fi lm, plus extra content.

Speaking to Broadcast, Macrae said: “I have never known a film to have this effect. We have shown it in a number of places from the Australian parliament to the UN and the European parliament. It is astonishing how it affects people.”

The Sri Lankan government has questioned the authenticity of the claims. Following one of the 2011 films, a 600-page complaint was fi led with Ofcom – just one of 100 made about the film.

Macrae believes the complaints were an orchestrated attempt by the Sri Lankan government to undermine the film. Not one of the complaints has been upheld.

“When people see it, they know it is not faked,” Macrae continues. “I can’t think of a film that has been subjected to more rigorous examination. It has been checked within an inch of its life.”

The Sri Lankan government has yet to engage with the latest film and continues to deny all evidence. “This film is about truth, justice and human rights and we need to get that message to as many people as possible,” Macrae added.

He also hopes that the film demonstrates the need to have international current affairs on TV. “I hope the impact is that it will make it easier for foreign current affairs programmes to be made. Films like these have an incredibly important role to play in real life and politics. They show that TV is an important and powerful medium that can lead public debate and discourse.”

One of the main objectives of the campaign is to draw attention to what is happening in Sri Lanka now. Macrae says the government is engaging in systematic repression, denial of freedoms and attempts to ethnically re-engineer the north of the country, where the majority of the Tamil population live.

With No Fire Zone, Macrae hopes to expose the failure of the international community to intervene on any level, either political or economic, and the wider repercussions that has had.

“That in effect gave a greenlight to the Assads of this world that you can get away with slaughtering people with impunity,” he said. “Broadcasters need to have courage and they also have a duty to make these films. They can potentially have a vital role in learning the lessons of history.”

| By Balihar Khalsa

Courtesy - www.lankanewsweb.com

British MPs call for CHOGM boycott at Parliament debate on Sri Lanka

 09 January 2013

British Members of Parliament have called on the government to boycott this year’s Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Sri Lanka, at a debate held in the Houses of Parliament on Tuesday.

British MPs Call for CHOGM Boycott at Parliament Debate on Sri Lanka by nelvely

 Carefully consider the findings of the UN high Commissioner and reconsider your decision to attend CHOGM in Sri Lanka -British group of MPs apeal

(Lanka-e-News- 11.Sep.2013,11.30PM) The All Party British Parliamentary Group for Tamils (APPGT) welcomes the visit by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay and we acknowledge the observations she made during her mission in Sri Lanka.

On 31st of August 2013, in an initial media statement, High Commissioner Pillay said “It is important everyone realises that, although the fighting is over, the suffering is not”. This is also the message which members of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Tamils are hearing from Tamils in the UK, as their loved ones continue to suffer under the military control of the North and East by the Sri Lankan Armed Forces.

Dr Pillay further said: “There are a number of specific factors impeding normalisation, which – if not quickly rectified – may sow the seeds of future discord.” “These are by and large to do with the curtailment or denial of personal freedoms and human rights, or linked to persistent impunity and the failure of rule of law.”

It is clear from the Human Rights Commissioner’s findings that “physical reconstruction alone will not bring reconciliation, dignity, or lasting peace” to the root cause of conflict in Sri Lanka.

The All Party Parliamentary Group for Tamils (APPGt) is deeply concerned about the on-going structural alteration of demography with a political motive and the degree of continuing sexual harassment and abuse against women and girls, especially in female-headed households in the war affected North and East of the Island.

In the next UN resolution to be decided in Geneva in March 2014, the UK should continue to support the call for accountability and justice for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, through an international mechanism.

The APPGT ask the UK Government, to reconsider its’ position on the 2013 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Sri Lanka, as we believe it will seriously weaken the UN Human Rights Council process led by the United States of America and appear to endorse the current authoritarian regime which has been accused of responsibility for the killing of over 40,000 innocent civilians over a few months in 2009.

The oral report of the UN High Commissioner to the Human Rights Council in Geneva relating to Sri Lanka will be presented in late September this year, and we hope that our Prime Minister, will carefully consider the findings of the UN high Commissioner and reconsider his decision to attend CHOGM 2013 in Sri Lanka.

The APPGT will continue to work for a lasting peace in Sri Lanka through accountability, justice and a political solution addressing the root cause to the conflict.—————————————-
The APPGT will continue to work for a lasting peace in Sri Lanka through accountability,
justice and a political solution addressing the root cause to the conflict.

Chair: Lee Scott MP; Vice Chairs: Siobhan McDonagh MP Simon Hughes MP Virenda Sharma MP;
Secretary: Robert Halfon MP; Co-ordinator: Hazel Weinberg

Defense Secretary Gothabaya Rajapaksa’s statement on Muslim extremism

By Latheef Faroo
-10th September 2013.

Defense Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s statement on what he described as the “emergence of Muslim extremism” has shocked and dismayed the island’s besieged and helpless Muslim community. Addressing a defense seminar at Galadari Hotel on Tuesday 3 September Mr.Gotabaya Rajapaksa stated that the country was faced with an uphill task of tackling Sinhala hardliners as well as Muslim extremists. He added that “it has been observed that there are some foreign groups that wish to encourage Sri Lankan Muslims to identify themselves more

Defense Secretary Gothabaya Rajapaksa’s statement on Muslim extremism by nelvely

Sri Lanka’s Muslims in the Cross Hairs

By Sudha Ramachandran-September 11, 2013

Turning their attention from Tamils, Sinhala-Buddhist nationalists are now targeting the island's Muslim minority.

Sri Lanka’s Sinhala-Buddhist nationalists have opened a new front in their war against the island’s minorities. If for decades it was the island’s Tamils who were the focus of their hostility, it is the Muslims who are in their cross-hairs now.

Sri Lanka’s Muslims in the Cross Hairs by nelvely

To map out the future for Tamils, do it in pencil?

by Victor Cherubim-Thursday, September 12, 2013

( September 12, 2013, London, Sri Lanka Guardian) Whilst unconfirmed reports attributed to the government, stated that the UNP may extend support to the TNA to win the Northern Provincial Council election, other observers maintain, that the military authorities in the North, by blatantly canvassing for the UPFA candidates, were driving support of ordinary voters to the Tamil National Alliance.

President Rajapaksa added “Northern Province has been given equal benefits similar to that given to other provinces, following the end of the war. Although land issues in the North exist, those issues will be resolved in due course.”

To Map Out the Future for Tamils, Do It in Pencil by nelvely

SRI LANKA: 'Judgeitis' -- disease of the judges

September 12, 2013

The Guardian reported on September 11 that Lord Carlisle has argued for an inspectorate of judges which could deal with problems before they lead to complaints. Meanwhile new regulations dealing with complaints against judges come into force at the beginning of next month.  The new regulations come on the basis of the Constitutional Reform Act of 2005. The Reform Act gives power to the Lord Chief Justice to make regulations dealing with misconduct by judges. Lord Carlisle's argument, published in a recent magazine article, is that there should be an inspectorate that can deal with problems before they lead to complaints.

These moves indicate that even in a judicial system which has the highest credibility in the world there are new measures and discussions about even further measures to improve the functioning of the system of justice. The Asian Human Rights Commission has for over a long period pointed out the way that the system of justice in Sri Lanka has become dysfunctional. Instead of taking measures to make it better all the moves that are taking place indicate only a design to undermine the judiciary altogether.

In the course of the article that appeared in The Guardian it refers to what has come to be called 'judgeitis'. This has been defined by Lord Hailsham as follows, ".....the symptoms of judgeitis, or "judges disease", include "pomposity, irritability, talkativeness, proneness to obiter dicta (statements not necessary for the decision in the case), a tendency to take short cuts".

In Sri Lanka 'judgeitis', or "judges disease" has been discussed for long periods of time among the lawyers as well as the general public, particularly after the former Chief Justice, Sarath N. Silva took that office. There is also a considerable amount of literature relating to this matter. We are listing here some of the things which may come under judgeitis in Sri Lanka.

• Perhaps the most frequently referred to disease is the linkage that developed between the judiciary and the executive. A former chief justice, Asoka de Silva, even became an advisor to the president after his retirement. He also wrote an introductory chapter for a booklet which was widely distributed by the government in support of the impeachment of the Chief Justice Dr. Shirani Bandaranayke. The origin of this particular aspect of judgeitis can be traced to the appointment of Sarath N. Silva as chief justice by the then president, Chandrika Bandaranaike.
• Trying to impose settlements by way of obstruction to adjudication, particularly in cases where one of the parties may be the government or a government agency. Sarath N. Silva was notorious for doing this and there is a long list of cases where the party's desire for justice was frustrated by compelling of settlements. The present chief justice, Mohan Peiris was also reported to have suggested in open court to lawyers to take cases to the government departments for settlement instead of bringing up cases to courts.
• A senior and well known lawyer, S.L. Gunasekara, in his book The Lore of the Law and Other Memories mentions a series of irregularities which have become quite common in Sri Lanka and which could also easily fall under judgeitis. One such common practice he mentions is the failure of the judges to give a proper hearing to lawyers.
• In a recently published article in the LST Review (Vol. 306 & 307 in May 2013) the statement of a group of lawyers has been reproduced, which gives a long list of things that may come under judgeitis, some of which are allowing the lawyers from the Attorney General's Department to be allowed to make oral submissions in fundamental rights cases on behalf of respondents before the respondent files any answer in court; courts not giving reasons when refusing leave to proceed in fundamental rights applications and when refusing leave to appeal to higher courts; granting suspended sentences even for very serious crimes such as murder and rape, (in this regard women's groups have also held public protests against granting suspended sentences to rapists and those found guilty of sexual harassment); the harassment of lawyers for personal reasons; the absence of adequate knowledge of law on the part of some judges; judges blaming lawyers without any good reason, for example one senior lawyer who has been in practice for a very long time and has a clean record was accused by a Supreme Court judge in open court who said that he was a liar on the basis of a misconception on the part of the judge that one of the documents submitted to the court was not an authentic document when such misconception proved to be completely unfounded.

There is a much longer list of such aspects of judgeitis. The suggestions made in the United Kingdom for an inspectorate and the kind of measures taken under the Constitutional Reform Act of 2005 for establishing new regulations for dealing with complaints against judges remain a dire need in Sri Lanka. However, it is not likely to be realised due to heavy pressure by the executive to bring the judiciary under its control. Recent remarks quoted in the media attributed to Chief Justice, Mohan Peiris suggesting that the three branches of the government should work in collaboration indicate that even the very notion of the separation of powers is being seriously undermined. Remarks by international experts relating to the impeachment of the Chief Justice, Shirani Bandaranayke also points out such undermining.

UN survey on violence against women in Sri Lanka: 97% of rapists face no legal consequences

11 SEPTEMBER 2013 AT 12:54 LK TIME.

A UN led survey into violence against women across the Asia and Pacific region makes shocking reading for Sri Lanka.  The country was one of six included in the three year long study, along with China, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Papua New Guinea and Cambodia.

The Sri Lankan section of the study was conducted in Colombo, Nuwara Eliya, Batticaloa and Hambantota, with respondents answering sensitive questions anonymously to try and ensure honest disclosure.

15% of men surveryed in Sri Lanka admitted to having committed rape, with the majority of cases involving rape of a partner.  Marital rape is not criminalised in Sri Lanka unless the husband and wife are judicially separated.

65% of these men said they had committed rape more than once, with 40% committing their first rape before the age of 20.  The motivation in the vast majority of cases was sexual entitlement, with another 20% saying they did it because it was “fun” or they were “bored”.

Most alarmingly of all, only 3.2% of those who admitted rape had been arrested, and only 2.2% had been jailed – or in other words in 96.5% of rape cases the rapist had experienced no legal consequences.  Only 34% even said that they felt worried or guilty about what they had done.  Both of those figures are the worst of any country involved in the study.

And this cannot be blamed on the sample size or the men who happened to respond – Rosy Senanayake recently revealed in parliament that only 600 perpetrators of sexual abuse had been remanded in Sri Lanka out of 300,000 cases, or 2%.  There have been a spate of shocking statistics about violence against women and children in the country recently, including the fact that a women is raped every 90 minutes in the country, 95% of women who use public transport experience sexual harassment, and 3-5 children are raped every day.

Despite this, 65% of men said that the law made it too easy to bring charges against a rapist.

The research was aimed at finding out why some men committed violence against women, and their conclusion was that gender inequality, gender norms and sexual or relationship practices are the deciding factors.  Men who have experienced abuse themselves or have paid for sex are more likely to commit rape, but it is “influential narratives of masculinity that celebrate toughness, heterosexual performance” and “a man’s control over women” that have the most influence over a man’s capacity for violence.

The authors of the study say that “work to prevent violence against women must expand beyond efforts to change individual men” and move towards transforming social norms related to the acceptability of violence against women, to creating masculinities based on respect and equality rather than violence and control, educating the young, and creating violence free environments for children.

However, one of the 7 main recommendations of the report was to “End impunity for men who rape”, and judging by the figures returned for Sri Lanka, that is the factor that the country needs to address most urgently.