Commonwealth: Don’t Attend Summit in Sri Lanka
Lack of Accountability, Ongoing Abuses Should Not be Rewarded
SEPTEMBER 13, 2013

“The Sri Lankan government should be shunned – not rewarded – for failing to hold anyone accountable for war crimes during the country’s recent conflict. Attending a summit in Sri Lanka so soon after the UN rights chief decried a worsening situation sends the wrong message to the government and to victims seeking justice.”

Brad Adams, Asia director

(London) – The heads of Commonwealth governments should not attend the 2013 Commonwealth summit inSri Lanka in November because of the government’s unwillingness to address ongoing human rights concerns, Human Rights Watch said today in a letterto the 54 heads of Commonwealth countries. Those governments deciding to attend should send a low-level delegation as a public message of dissatisfaction.

During a visit to Sri Lanka in August, the United Nations high commissioner for human rights, Navi Pillay, expressed grave concerns about lack of accountability, unresolved enforced disappearances, and decreasing fundamental freedoms, among other issues.

“The Sri Lankan government should be shunned – not rewarded – for failing to hold anyone accountable for war crimes during the country’s recent conflict,” said Brad Adams, Asia director. “Attending a summit in Sri Lanka so soon after the UN rights chief decried a worsening situation sends the wrong message to the government and to victims seeking justice.”

Since the end of the country’s civil armed conflict in May 2009, the human rights record under the administration of President Mahinda Rajapaksa has remained poor. The government has become increasingly authoritarian, attacking the independence of the judiciary and severely limiting the space for public criticism by the media and human rights groups. Despite credible allegations by both the UN Secretary-General’s Panel of Experts and the government’s own Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) of numerous wartime abuses by both sides, the government has undertaken no serious investigations or prosecutions.

The Panel of Experts estimated that as many as 40,000 civilians died in the final months of the war.

The Sri Lankan government’s unwillingness to address these concerns resulted in the UN Human Rights Council adoption of a resolution in March 2013 calling on Sri Lanka to implement the many recommendations made by the LLRC. Since the resolution, the Sri Lankan government has made many pronouncements about adopting the recommendations, but has demonstrated little genuine progress in implementation.

“Holding the summit in Sri Lanka casts serious doubts on the Commonwealth’s stated commitment to supporting human rights and democratic reform,” Adams said. “Instead of participating in a propaganda coup for the Sri Lankan government, Commonwealth heads of government should stay home and publicly press Sri Lanka on its repressive policies and lack of accountability.”

Govt. will take action against TNA manifesto

by Ravi Ladduwahetty-

Friday, 13 Sep 2013

Government Spokesman and the Minister for Media and Information, Keheliya Rambukwella, said the government will take action against the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) election manifesto, as it contravenes the Constitution of Sri Lanka.

Addressing the weekly news conference at the Media Ministry yesterday, he said: "Some sections (of the manifesto) are certainly in violation, and the government is disappointed with it and will take action.

There are other parties as well who are contemplating legal action," Rambukwella said the manifesto contains some clauses that relate to some aspects of the LTTE when it was in existence, and now it is patently obvious that the TNA served as the proxy of the LTTE, by drafting the present manifesto.

The minister also refuted speculation that the government was proposing to abandon the forthcoming Northern Provincial polls. He was responding to a question based on newspaper reports quoting the Economic Development Minister, Basil Rajapaksa, as having said so.

"We have no tangible reason to abandon the Northern Provincial Council polls as we have done tremendous development work there. The economic fundamentals of the country are also good with positive growth, reduced unemployment, which is now under 4.5%, and continuing inflation which is under 10%. The interest rates are in single digit, though is still not at a level we could be happy about," the minister said.

He went on to say another reason the country could be happy about, was the fact that Sri Lanka's position in the Global Position Index has improved to 50 from 72, and the country has all the indicators of being a developing nation.

Responding to a question on a TNA victory at the polls would mean it was the endorsement of their manifesto, Rambukwella said, it could be positive on the one side, although it could be that a manifesto would not be implemented. He added, the demerger of the North and the East was based on a Court order.

Asked whether it was ethical for the Northern Province Governor, G.A. Chandrasiri, to make political statements on behalf of the government, despite being the President's representative there, Rambukwella said he had all the right to make statements on the development efforts in the North as the President's accredited representative in the Peninsula.

On being questioned whether it was ethical for the President to interfere with the polls, Rambukwella responded saying there was no issue with the President visiting the North as the Head of State, but there was a problem in his being involved in the election campaign as the Head of the SLFP.

Commenting on the stance of the UPFA, vis-à-vis the JHU walking out of the Parliamentary Select Committee on the national question, and sitting with the TNA on the same stage at the Northern Provincial Council campaigns, the minister said the PSC was a mere tool towards solving the national issue.

"That is non-binding. It is the discretion of the JHU to either participate in it or be critical of it, despite being members of the ruling coalition," the minister said.

Northern Provincial Council Elections: Pre-Election Survey Results By Social Indicator

September 13, 2013 

With the elections for the Northern Provincial Councils coming up next week, most residents of the Northern Province remain optimistic that it will be a free and fair election. This was revealed in an opinion poll conducted by Social Indicator*, the survey research unit of the Centre for Policy Alternatives in August 2013 in the run up to the Northern Provincial Council Elections.

Most residents of the Northern Province remain optimistic that it will be a free and fair election

The poll did not intend to forecast the election results but rather to assess the views of the people with regard to the upcoming election, issues that are important to the community and changes experienced since the end of war.

Job opportunities, improving education, housing and improving roads and transport appear to be the most important issues for people and their community. In the last four years, majority of the respondents (63.7%) believe that development in the Northern Province has somewhat improved while 26.1% say that it has greatly improved. When it comes to personal security, 41.3% state that it has somewhat improved in the last four years while 21.6% say that there has been no change. Almost 40% believe that their livelihoods have somewhat improved while 33.9% say that there has been no change.

When selecting candidates the most important factor that matter to most respondents is that candidates are engaged in community service and village development while honest, suitable candidates with good policies come a close second. Most respondents appear optimistic about the upcoming election with 34.2% believing that the NPC elections will be free and fair and while 24% say they may be free and fair. Almost 34% of respondents believe that the TNA will win the elections while 21.7% believe it will be the UPFA.

Provincial Elections in the Northern Province will be held on the 21st of September 2013  – the first time in 25 years. According to the Department of Elections, 714,488 people are registered to vote.

Read the report in English , Sinhala and Tamil

*Social Indicator (SI) is the survey research unit of the Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) and was established in September 1999, filling a longstanding vacuum for a permanent, professional and independent polling facility in Sri Lanka on social and political issues.  Driven by the strong belief that polling is an instrument that empowers democracy, SI has been conducting polls on a large range of socio‐economic and political issues since its inception.

Basil Rajapaksa deploys government employees for UPFA campaign in North

[TamilNet, Friday, 13 September 2013, 04:59 GMT]
While the Sri Lankan presidential sibling Basil Rajapaksa is spearheading the election campaign for the occupying UPFA regime in Jaffna, all the government workers under his ministry, including ‘Samurdhi’ officials, who have access to the grassroots and unemployed graduates, who have been provided trainee appointments on a 10,000 rupee monthly salary, are instructed to work for Rajapaksa’s ruling UPFA, carrying out election campaign among the masses for the coming 7 days starting from Friday till 20th September in violation of the rules for a free and fair election. At least 40 Sinhala ‘Samurdhi’ officials from the South have been brought to Jaffna to supervise the poverty alleviation Tamil workers in Jaffna deployed in the election campaign, civil sources in Jaffna told TamilNet. 

‘Samurdhi’ is a poverty alleviation program originally begun by the UNP regime on the advice and guidelines of the IMF and World Bank.

There are around 735 ‘Samurdhi’ officials in Jaffna district alone. Of these, 318 were given appointments just one month ahead of the NPC elections. Most of them had to pay bribe of 700,000 each to secure the employment. The 417 officials already employed were persons close to SL military or the EPDP. 

Unemployed graduates on trainee appointments in Jaffna district alone number around 1,200 persons. There are more than 4,000 graudate trainees in the entire Northern province. All of them are now instructed to campaign for the UPFA in the province. 

While SL ministers Basil Rajapaksa and Douglas Devananda fully utilize the public resources to conduct election campaign for the UPFA, the colonial governor of the SL State has been fully deploying the resources of the provincial council to conduct election campaign in favour of Mahinda Rajapaksa’s UPFA alliance. 

The SL military occupying the country of Eezham Tamils has also been campaigning for UPFA. 

The Tamil National Alliance has objected against the exploitation taking place in the North. 

The SL ministers and the SL governor have vowed to woo voters for the UPFA challenging the Tamil National Alliance, which is set to secure an overwhelming majority in the provincial council elections in the North.

19% OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES COULDN’T PROPERLY FILL POSTAL VOTE APPLICATIONS 13 500 APPLICATIONS WITHOUT SIGNATURES AND WRONG INFORMATION – 8379 DIDN’T EVEN SEND APPLICATIONS ON TIME

2013-09-13
How can those who can’t protect their own voting rights, protect others? – CaFFE inquires

Out of those who applied for postal votes, 26 232 applications (19%,) have been rejected. Thus one out of each five applications for postal voting has been rejected. CaFFE believes that this high number of rejections, among state officials who are the backbone of electoral process, is an indication of the complex nature of Sri Lankan election system.

499 applications were rejected as they did not have signatures while another 13 135 were rejected due to false information. It is almost unbelievable that such a number of state officials forgot to sign their applications. In addition if they are unable to properly note relatively simple details such as the name, address and electorate, it is questionable how those with lesser education levels can protect their voting rights.
Moreover CaFFE wonders how an official, who cannot protect his or her own voting right or does not seek assistance from a colleague who knows better, can protect the voting rights of millions of Sri Lankans as electoral managers.

Another 912 applications have been rejected as senior officials have not properly certified the applications of those who work under them. This has occured most in Kurunegala District (338 applications.) Out of 8139 rejected applications from the Central Province, 5334 (66%) is due to providing false information. Out of these most are from the Ministries of Education, Defence, State Administration and the Police.
However although their postal applications have been rejected a state official can vote at their respective polling station on September 21.

Media Unit – CaFFE

CaFFE dismayed by Northern Governor's response

Campaign for Free and Fair Elections (CaFFE) is deeply concerned about the reactions by Former Major General GA Chandrasiri to criticism regarding his campaigning on behalf of the UPFA in Jaffna district. He has told media that he has a right to engage in politics after attending a United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) rally.

CaFFE in a statement said: We believes that the Northern Governor is a public servant and he does not have a moral right to appear on UPFA rallies and cheer the UPFA candidates contesting for elections on September 21.

What Governor Chandrasiri is doing is almost unprecedented. There are prominent politicians who have earned the respect of the nation as Governors of Provincial Councils. Our memory goes back to Governors PC Imbulana, DB Wijetunga and other distinguished politicians who held such positions in the past. Even though the late DB Wijaetunga became the Prime Minister and then the President of the Socialist Democratic Republic of Sri Lanka, he never appeared on political stage during the time he served as the Governor. Even at present highly seasoned and well-experienced politicians such as Mr. Nanda Mattew and Mr. Tikiri Kobbekaduwa hold the position of a governor without engaging in active electoral politics. We should not forget until very recently Governor Tikiri Kobbekaduwa was the Yatinuwara SLFP organizer, however after His Excellency the President appointed him as the Governor of Central Province he did not publicly engage in election campaigning. Moreover we have not seen the Governor Nanda Matthew or any other Governors engaging in open election campaigning in any of the previous elections.

There are very recent examples of Provincial Governors maintaining the dignity of the office. For example even though her son contested for the last Sabaragamuwa PC election, Southern Governor Mrs. Kumari Balasuriya did not openly appear on the UPFA stage to campaign for her son. More over Sabaragamuwa was out of her territory as the Governor. CaFFE well understands that Governors can have political opinions and/or might be

softhearted with a political party, but decent governors do not openly show their
favourations by cheering and appearing on election platforms, holding hands with candidates. It is immoral, unethical and indecent.

In addition Cabinet Minister Hon. Keheliya Rambukwella, one of the top Ministers in the administration and an experienced politician, told media on September 12 that although the Northern Governor has been appointed by the President, his participation in UPFA election rallies is problematic. As a representative of the President he can participate in events attended by the President if he wishes, Rambukwella said. Meanwhile the Commissioner of Elections had already informed the governors of the Northern, Central and Northwestern provinces that they should not engage in electioneering. This was even communicated to the General Secretaries of the UPFA and SLFP.

The governor according to Sri Lankan constitution summons the first setting of the Provincial Council. We cannot understand how an individual who is currently showing his political favourations openly in election platforms of a certain political party can make a fair judgment of who he should invite to establish the council after the election. In addition he would have lost the respect of representatives from other political parties by engaging in electoral politics.

Establishing the Northern Provincial Council is a historical landmark in the Sri Lankan history. This is vital for the normalization of the region after a highly militarized situation both physically and psychologically. CaFFE firmly believes that civil administration, lead by a Provincial Council with civil servants that truly respect the basic democratic norms and practices, will be established after the elections.

If he continues to engage in political campaigning CaFFE believes he has no moral right to hold his position a governor on September 22 and CaFFE calls the Governor to choose between party campaigning and respectful governorship.

Where Ever In This “Miracle Land”, Democrats Should Demand Removal Of NP Governor

By Kusal Perera -September 13, 2013 

Kusal Perera

The present Governor of Northern Province, Major General (Rtd.) G.A. Chandrasiri, a battle hardened high officer in the State security service was opposed in his capacity as Governor, not for his conduct, but because the high office of Governor should be held by a civilian, for civil administration to function as civil as it has to be. That opposition was on a principle democratic assumption and it applied to the Eastern Province Governor, Rear Admiral (Rtd.) Mohan Wijewickrama as well and to all other security forces personnel, retired or not, who hold public office that should be held by civilians. This was part of the issue, a component of militarisation, the Final Report of the LLRCalso showed much concern about and concluded this should be reversed and reversed rapidly.

EP Governor proved his command is rule of law, with even the ruling party Provincial Councillors and PC ministers wanting him removed. He has made the elected Council by the people almost defunct, from what the protesting people’s representative complained to the President. That was not adequately solved as media reports later indicated, quoting the complainants who met with President Rajapaksa in Kandy. The bottom line is, retired or not, security forces high command personnel are not the type who could sit on civilian seats.

Now, NP Governor Chandrasiri has proved himself wholly unqualified to hold such high position, irrespective of whether he is in uniform or not. The CaFFE in a statement said a Governor appointed by the President under the Constitution has the role and responsibility detailed in article 154 (b) of the Sri Lankan Constitution, must carry out duties assigned accordingly which are executive in nature and Governor Chandrasiri should choose between politics and the Governor’s post. Reacting to this CaFFE inference which in every way was right and spot on, Governor Chandrasiri in a very angry and arrogant tone had told the media in Jaffna, “I am not bothered even if my propaganda work has been referred to the Human Rights Commission. There is no law to stop me from travelling around the Northern Province, for which I am the Governor. I have the political right as I am representing the President,” He does not know that he is not there to represent the “political party” ofMahinda Rajapaksa that is contesting elections. He does not understand that he had been appointed by the President to represent executive power. These are distinctly two different aspects contradicting each other.Read More

The Big Farce That Demands A DIFFERENT 

Answer !

By Kusal Perera -September 13, 2013

Kusal Perera

After Governor, Sir Henry Monck-Mason Moore left this island Ceylon, the heavy moustached, stocky ruler from Bothale who took over as Prime Minister, assured a Sinhala majority parliament by disfranchising the plantation Tamil polity and colonising the East. Thereafter, the tweed coat wearing, pipe smoking, bespectacled Anglican aristocrat, draped himself in white cloth topped with a white banian to take the ignorant Sinhala Buddhists on a merry-go-round, as their popularly elected PM. Every succeeding political leader after him have done same and no better. Jayawardne did one better, getting minister Cyril Mathew in shirt and trouser, to set about looting and beating Tamil life, to run away from democratic politics.

The two main political parties in the Sinhala constituency thus remain utter racist, despite two liberal sounding leaders, Madam Kumaratunge and Ranil Wickramasinghe who would talk plurality, look secular but were never able to, or rather never wanted to change party politics into decent, democratic politics to have their political parties as civilised parties that could think and act decently. Of these two parties, one is now ruling and the other wants to rule. Given the present rule without law and order, without transparency and accountability, reeking with nepotism and cronyism is by now apathy and needs a total change, what possibility is there ? What alternative is there ?Read More

Governors not above reproach

by J.T. de Silva-Friday, 13 Sep 2013

Commissioner of Elections, Mahinda Deshapriya, said it is within the rights of anyone to complain to the Human Rights Commission against the provincial governors, if they are found to be engaging in election campaigns.

He said the governors of the Northern, Central and North-Western Provinces, where provincial elections will be held on 21 September, have already been notified that they should not be taking part in election campaigns.

However, if anybody is found to be defying that order and continue to participate in election activities, anybody can lodge a complaint with the Human Rights Commission against such behaviour. The Commissioner also said, after receiving complaints to the effect that the Governor of the Northern Province is engaged in election activities of the ruling party, he had notified the General Secretaries of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and the United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) about the complaints. He assured punitive action against election law violators, once the complaints are reviewed by him.

I have the political right

by Sulochana Ramiah Mohan

Saturday, 14 Sep 2013

Governor of the Northern Province, Maj. Gen. G.A. Chandrasiri, maintained he has the right to be in any part of Sri Lanka as he is representing President Mahinda Rajapaksa, and he is not concerned about the allegations that he is participating in election propaganda for the ruling party in the Northern Province. "People are stupid to listen to what the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), which is contesting in the North, is saying. I have the power and I can go anywhere with anybody. I travel with the President and his brother, Minister of Economic Development, Basil Rajapaksa, on various occasions, who are toiling to develop the North. I have to be there when they are present in the North.

"I am not bothered even if my propaganda work has been referred to the Human Rights Commission. There is no law to stop me from travelling around the Northern Province, for which I am the Governor. I have the political right as I am representing the President," he said lambasting the media reports that highlighted his participation in the election campaigns.

Meanwhile, Commissioner of Elections, Mahinda Deshapriya, said he is in a 'fix' as the ruling party claims Northern Province Governor Chandrasiri has the political rights to get involved in the propaganda work for the United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA), claiming that he is a representative of President Rajapaksa, whereas the opposition parties claim, under the elections law, a State official cannot get involved in political campaigns.

"There are two opinions from the ruling and the opposition parties about the Northern Province Governor's involvement in the election campaign and I cannot do anything against these two opinions and now the matter has been referred to the Human Rights Commission to decide," he said.

Northern Provincial Council Elections: A Pre-Election Survey

Image courtesy Sri Lanka Brief

• by Social Indicator
• - on 09/13/2013 

Provincial Elections in the Northern Province will be held on the 21st of September 2013 – the first time in 25 years. According to the Department of Elections, 714,488 people are registered to vote.

Social Indicator, the survey research unit of the Centre for Policy Alternatives conducted an opinion poll in August 2013 in the run up to the Northern Provincial Council Elections [Editors note: The institutional home of Groundviews is the Centre for Policy Alternatives]. The poll did not intend to forecast the election results but rather to assess the views of the people with regard to the upcoming election, issues that are important to the community and changes experienced since the end of war.

Most respondents appear optimistic about the upcoming election with 34.2% believing that the NPC elections will be free and fair and while 24% say they may be free and fair.

Almost 34% of respondents believe that the TNA will win the elections while 21.7% believe it will be the UPFA.

Job opportunities, improving education, housing and improving roads and transport appear to be the most important issues for people and their community. In the last four years, majority of the respondents (63.7%) believe that development in the Northern Province has somewhat improved while 26.1% say that it has greatly improved. When it comes to personal security, 41.3% state that it has somewhat improved in the last four years while 21.6% say that there has been no change. Almost 40% believe that their livelihoods have somewhat improved while 33.9% say that there has been no change.

When selecting candidates the most important factor that matter to most respondents is that candidates are engaged in community service and village development while honest, suitable candidates with good policies come a close second.

Download the report (as PDFs) in English, Tamil or Sinhala.

Read online in English, Tamil or Sinhala.

Northern Provincial Council Elections: Pre-Election Survey Results by Sanjana Hattotuwa

Threat To Religious Freedoms In Sri Lanka Highlighted At US Senate Committee

September 13, 2013 

The loss of religious freedom in Sri Lanka was drawn into sharp focus yesterday when US Senator Marco Rubio, a Republican representative from Florida said 30 churches had been attacked over the past four months in the island.

“30 churches have been attacked by Buddhist extremists – quite frankly I never knew such a thing existed, but apparently it does” the US Senator said, expressing concern about the increasing loss of religious liberties in countries of South Asia.

US Senator Marco Rubio

Speaking during the confirmation hearings of the Obama nominated Nisha Desai Biswal, who is set to replace Robert O. Blake as the next Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Rubio urged that US foreign policy should not just reflect the country’s interests, but also its values.

“In this part of the world, religious liberties are under incredible duress,” Rubio said highlighting cases of intolerance and anti-Christian violence in India, Pakistan, Uzbekistan and Sri Lanka.

Rubio called for the US Government to rethink its foreign aid support to Governments of countries in which religious freedom was under grave threat.

Arizona Senator John Mccain also brought up Sri Lanka in the Q&A session Biswal had to face before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in order to have her appointment confirmed. Mccain said that human rights abuses taking place in Sri Lanka were rising to a level that was very disturbing. “Is the US active enough in condemning the ongoing human rights abuses,” Mccain asked the nominee.

Biswal responded that Senator Mccain’s assessment “comports” with her understanding of the situation in Sri Lanka. “The US has made clear that we believe that if Sri Lanka does not address through its own internal processes that there will be increasing calls for international processes to address these issues,” Biswal told the Committee.

UNHRC: Sri Lanka Says Approach Of Each State To Reconciliation Must Be Context-Specific

September 13, 2013 

Sri Lanka has highlighted the highlight the need to adopt “a pragmatic, context specific approach in addressing issues of transitional justice” and noted that “the approach of each state to reconciliation must be context-specific, taking into account the particularities of each state and the aspirations of its people”.

Manisha Gunasekera

Intervening during an Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on ‘Truth, Justice, Reparation and Non-recurrence’ Pablo de Grieff, at the ongoing 24th Session of the Human Rights Council on Thursday (12 September 2013), Sri Lanka’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva Manisha Gunasekera has observed, that “the Government of Sri Lanka has undertaken a harmonious and holistic approach to reconciliation, taking into consideration a range of cross-cutting issues including resettlement, housing, land, rehabilitation and reintegration of ex-combatants including former child soldiers, democratisation, accountability, demilitarisation, demining, infrastructure development, livelihood development, education, vocational training, trauma and psycho-social counselling, support for female-headed households and war widows, the trilingual policy, etc.  These actions initiated shortly after the ending of the terrorist conflict in May 2009, are presently being continued in the context of the National Plan of Action for the implementation of the recommendations of the LLRC, in a time bound manner. 

 Read More

Tamil hamlet Sinhalicised in Vavuniyaa: Sivasakthi Ananthan

[TamilNet, Friday, 13 September 2013, 05:48 GMT]
The colonial governor of North, Major General (retd) G.A. Chandrasri, together with a SL military officer in Vavuniyaa and a Buddhist monk, has appropriated the lands of ancient Tamil village, I’rampai-veddik-ku’lam in Vavuniyaa and carved out a Sinhala colony with a Sinhala name ‘Agbo-pura’. The ceremonious declaration of Agbopura has taken place on August 30, Tamil National Alliance parliamentarian from Vavuniyaa Sivasakthi Ananthan told media on Thursday. 

The SL colonial governor has distributed the lands to 80 Sinhala families from Vavuniyaa district in the appropriated lands. 

225 more Sinhala families are to be brought and settled in the new colony as part of the ongoing demographic change in the Vavuniyaa district, the parliamentarian further said. 

Tamil villagers from the nearby villages have been using the lands for their livelihood and the ancient Tamil hamlet was the home for displaced Tamils who were chased away from their houses in South during the 1977 pogrom against Tamils. 

The village has now been entirely Sinhalicised by Colombo’s occupying SL military, Buddhist monk and the colonial governor. 

Mr Sivasakthi Ananthan also blamed the SL Governor for violating the rules that there should be no land distribution from the government during the election campaign. 

A feature to be noted here by the civilised world is the Sinhalicisation of a nature-related Tamil place name into an ethno-nationalist Sinhala name, social activists in Vanni said. 

I'rampai-vedduk-ku'lam means the tank where I'rampai leaves used in curry are cut. The name was based on human-environment relationship of the Tamils who have been living there for ages. Agbo-pura means the town of Agbo, a Sinhala Buddhist king of the distant past.

Sri Lanka's path to peace

GREG SHERIDAN, FOREIGN EDITOR 

 

From:The Australian 

 

September 13, 2013

The last days of the war in Sri Lanka. Source: Supplied

The Australian

THE AUSTRALIAN

One of their signature gestures was the cyanide capsule each cadre was given to facilitate suicide in the event of capture.

The long Tamil Tiger war against the Sri Lankan government ran from 1983 to 2009 and resulted in perhaps 70,000 dead. In the course of this bitter conflict some members of the Sri Lankan army certainly committed human rights abuses. But there is no overall moral equivalence between the government of Sri Lanka and the Tigers.

Sri Lanka's Path to Peace by nelvely

On Escalation Of Religious Tensions In Sri Lanka

By Karu Jayasuriya -

Karu Jayasuriya

The recent escalation of religious tensions in the country has given rise to a deep sense of foreboding and a profound sadness for myself, and others in the United National Party. Our regret is shared by the vast majority of moderates who reside in our society, to whom the actions of a few misguided, malicious elements have been both distasteful and of very serious concern. The violence against places of religious worship, whether Islamic or Christian, must be condemned unequivocally, as it is deeply wounding to the sentiments of entire communities of people. Any Buddhist citizen of this country would empathise with this sadness and despair, having lived through the violent desecration of this country’s most sacred Buddhist shrine, the Dalada Maligawa by brutal terrorists in 1998.  As fellow sufferers, can we not empathise now, with the pain of others, who are facing similar terror at the hands of violent radicals who have become a law unto themselves?

When 30 years of brutal conflict ended in this island four years ago, it was the fervent wish of most Sri Lankans that the new nation we would forge in the aftermath of that turmoil would be one in which ethnic, religious, gender and other differences were transcended. For too long, Sri Lanka had been a society divided and people from every community and walk of life, were crying out for healing and reconciliation. In the new Sri Lanka, after the end of the conflict, the only identity that should have mattered was the Sri Lankan one. I had hoped, like many of my fellow Sri Lankans, that we could evolve into a society that celebrates diversity, and rejoices in the multi-culturalism that defines us as a people, the next rainbow nation.Read More

We Are Pleased Navi Pillay Was Able To Witness Sri Lanka’s Reconciliation Process

By Manisha Gunasekera -September 13, 2013

Manisha Gunasekera

24^th session of the Human Rights Council – Agenda Item 3 , Statement at the ID with the SR on Truth, Justice, Reparation and Non-recurrence

Mr. President,

The delegation of Sri Lanka thanks the Special Rapporteur on the Promotion of Truth, Justice, Reparation and Guarantees of Non-Recurrence Mr. Pablo de Grieff for his Report (A/HRC/24/42), and takes note of the range of information presented based on different models of transitional justice.

We note the SR’s assertion that while the past two decades have witnessed a steady increase in the establishment and use of various truth-seeking mechanisms, they, in particular state-sanctioned commissions can be important instruments for the redress of violations when implemented in a comprehensive manner.  The SR also notes that given the significant expansion of the commissions beyond fact finding, they find it increasingly difficult to satisfy growing expectations. We concur that the expansion of commission mandates without coherence, specificity and clarity, does not help in achieving reconciliation.

We welcome the SR’s recommendation that truth commissions adopt a gender-based approach, and his highlighting the funding aspect in the functioning of commissions, the latter being an often overlooked fact.

Mr. President,                                              Read More