Wishing the north’s chief minister well

Sunday, October 13, 2013

As he embarks on his official duties in this month of October 2013, Chief Minister of the Northern Provincial Council and former judge of Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court C.V. Wigneswaran must be left in no doubt of the hopes reposed in him by Tamil and Sinhala moderates despite extremists who revile him post-elections.

Overheated election rhetoric appears to have given way to a saner approach as signified by the Chief Minister taking oaths before President Mahinda Rajapaksa even as he was increasingly criticized for doing so from within his own ranks with some particularly ugly manifestations. 

Forthright tendencies

The Northern Province now has as its provincial head, a man distinguished by specific traits, one of which certainly is the tendency to speak out, quite regardless of the heat that this may endanger. This forthright tendency was well seen in his tenure as a superior court judge during the particularly controversial Sarath Silva era (1999-2009). 

In an aside, it is no doubt amusing to see retired Chief Justice Silva gravely expounding on the proper function of a court of law and the judicial role as we saw this week in relation to the recent delivering of a Supreme Court judgment under the State Lands Recovery of Possession Act (1979), when his own stewardship of the Court was marked by unprecedented public controversy from which the judiciary never really recovered.

Indeed it was none other than the present Northern Chief Minister who, just after his retirement as a Supreme Court judge, spoke of a constrained judicial environment where ‘errant politicians and policemen who should not have received any patronage from the judiciary were perceived as important persons and original court judges were compelled to comply with orders illegally issued to protect or pamper such errant offenders…,’ (Justice on a Razor’s Edge, The Sunday Leader, October 31st, 2004). 

Politicians in sports and judges in politics

And when dissenting voices were rarely heard from the Bar and still less from the Bench, Justice Wigneswaran defiantly stood out from unappealing judicial mediocrities who grumbled in private but meekly acquiesced in public to the highly authoritarian tone of the Silva Court. 

One of the more piquant asides was when parliamentarian Arjuna Ranatunga’s fundamental rights application asking that he be allowed to contest for the post of the president of the Sri Lanka Cricket Board was heard for leave to proceed before a Bench presided over by the former Chief Justice and numbering also Justice Wigneswaran. Ranatunge was contesting a regulation promulgated by the Sports Minister under the Sports Law No 25 of 1973 prohibiting a politician from becoming an office bearer of sports associations on the basis that it was discriminatory.

In marked contrast to the other sitting judges, Justice Wigneswaran’s emphatic observation was that ‘I do not approve of politicians entering the sports arena.’ At the point that this remark was made, entering politics as a retired Supreme Court judge would undoubtedly have been the farthest from his mind. Close to a decade later, as this former judge becomes the North’s Chief Minister, it is ironic to see the twists and turns that life may bring. 

A proverbial last hope

From that perspective, this is someone who is uniquely placed to differentiate himself from the cacophonous babble that passes for the political process today. Indeed, beset by a disastrous Opposition and repeatedly hit over the heads by a Government which has turned the notion of the Rule of Law upside down, Sri Lankan liberals (or at least those who still doggedly remain in this country) may well see him as a proverbial last hope for the majority as well as the minorities, provided that destructive ethno-centric politics are minimized in the process. 

In general, his persona lends itself to this expectation. In the early days of his retirement from the Bench, Justice Wigneswaran’s comments on the degeneration of Sri Lanka’s judiciary were characteristically pungent. In that 2004 media interview, his prophetic comments which reflected much of our own thoughts, foresaw the calamitous collapse of the Sri Lankan judiciary in 2012 when a sitting Chief Justice was forced out and the military brought into the heart of the courts complex.

His caution is equally relevant then as now; “the judiciary must not be filled at its higher echelons with executive-pliant officers who have had very close relationships with the executive and the legislature….unless recruitment of judges and the process of judicial administration undergo radical change, I see the judicial process becoming a question mark.” 

A common issue of the role of the law

In 2013, as he assumes office as Chief Minister of the Northern Province, Sri Lanka’s judicial process has gone far beyond being a question mark. Its role as a separate and independent branch of government has been undermined as never before. In the North, the lands of the Tamil people are being seized under the twin prong of the government’s militarization and development drive. In the East, even as the Sampur agreement is signed by Sri Lanka this month reportedly with potential heavy burdens to consumers, the displaced people of Sampur lament bitterly. In other parts of the country, marginalized Sinhalese farmers are being evicted from state lands and private lands are being sold to foreign companies with fat commissions to local politicians. The role of the law has receded into the background. 

These are unpropitious times indeed for honest men and women, let alone a former Supreme Court judge whose integrity was unimpeachable, to function in politics. And true enough, the transition from the judicial to a political role can only be hedged about with thorns of a particularly prickly kind. Regardless, Sri Lankans who recall what this country once was with profound regret as well as helpless anger can only wish him well.

Commonwealth summit mired in row over Briton shot in Sri Lanka

Khuram Shaikh, from Rochdale, was murdered on Christmas Day 2011, after complaining about harassment of his girlfriend. Photograph: Observer

Peter Beaumont-13 October 2013

Prince Charles offers his help as allegations against political fixer and calls for boycott cast shadow over heads of government meeting

Prince Charles offered to help in the effort to win justice for a British man who was murdered in Sri Lanka – allegedly by a close political ally of the country's prime minister.

Commonwealth Summit Mired in Row Over Briton Shot in Sri Lanka by nelvely

Army Denies Its Presence Is Responsible For Insecurity Of Northern Women 

• Silence and impunity on acts of sexual violence is factually incorrect says Army
• Current deployment of military in North is of paramount importance for national security claims Army

By Camelia Nathaniel

A group of war widows in Jaffna

Family still living in temporay shelter

According to members of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and certain observers, in spite of government claims that the military presence in the North has been reduced subsequent to the end of the war, the army and security apparatus retain a heavy presence, operating increasingly in plain-clothes, which makes their presence less noticeable.

Brigadier Ruwan Wanigasuriya and Major General Udaya Perera

Sexual Violence In The Northern Province

a. Cases reported during the conflict period – 119 (125 accused), 1 January 2007 to 18 May 2009.

b. Cases reported in the post-conflict period – 256 (307 accused), 19 May 2009 to 31 May 2012.

During the conflict period (January 2007 – May 2009), seven Security Forces personnel were reported as being involved in five incidents of sexual violence in the North Brigadier Ruwan Wanigasuriya said adding that this is out of a total of 125 persons accused in 119 incidents for the entirety of the Northern Province.

“The ethnicity of the victims of these cases is 4 Sinhalese and 1 Tamil. In the post conflict period (May 2009 – May 2012) 10 Security Forces personnel were reported as being involved in 6 incidents of sexual violence in the North. This is out of a total of 307 persons accused in 256 incidents for the entire Northern Province. The ethnicity of the victims is 2 Tamil, 1 Muslim and 3 Sinhalese.

The involvement of Security Forces personnel as a percentage of the total accused stands at 5.6% during the conflict period and 3.3% in the post conflict period.

Army Denies Its Presence Is Responsible For Insecurity Of Northern Women by nelvely

Cautious Route To Devolution

By Austin Fernando -October 13, 2013 

Austin Fernando

After former Chief Minister (CM) Varatharajah Perumal issued the unilateral declaration of independence about twenty-five years back, as a devolutionist, I reminisced that had he remained as Chief Minister (CM) without acting so, many later problems of the Provincial Councils (PCs) could have been solved viably. Today, I project that CM CV Wigneswaran has got similar or even greater opportunity to achieve power sharing.

Mavai Senathirajah’s prescription

Lately, Tamil National Alliance’s (TNA’s) Member of Parliament (MP) Mavai Senathirajah has told The Hindu that the priorities of the Northern Provincial Council (NPC) are to: (1) ensure that lands destroyed in the war be reclaimed and livelihood programmes introduced; (2) pass laws to bring resources for development; and, (3) give the Tamil people the right to self-rule. For these he expected international support – especially Indian. Also, CM Wigneswaran has reiterated calls for self determination for Tamils, within a united Sri Lanka.

I believe that NPC will perform following the TNA Manifesto. If the TNA Manifesto was only to win elections, its purpose is already served. But, can the NPC implement the Manifesto in totality, irrespective of sensitivities?  If the TNA and the NPC think power sharing is convenient, they are mistaken. They will learn the hard way from the central bureaucracy, whom I call Saddnatha White Elephants. (Please refer-https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/provincial-white-elephants-and-saddantha-white-elephants-in-colombo/)

Land and livelihood issues

Let me look at the lands and livelihood issue – the first priority of MP Senathirajah.

The Manifesto raises the issue of acquisition of lands by the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL). It speaks of ‘acquisition for military purposes;’ ‘forcible acquisition of lands’; ‘shared sovereignty’ to be ‘necessarily be over land’; ‘lands seized by the government without due process’; respecting ‘the rights of private property owners’ and ‘restore such lands to the rightful owners’ (MP Senathirajah himself included!); ‘…draconian regulations on land acquisition and reoccupation’ depriving Tamils’ rich agricultural lands – a bagful of grievances. TNA complains these as rights violations and Tamilnet continuously repeated specific incidents to prove it. They drag in pro-Muslim interests and anti-Hindu and anti-Muslim incidents and make the cases more complex.

Read More

Indian PM unlikely to attend CHOGM

Sunday, 13 Oct 2013

Indian External Affairs Minister, Salman Khurshid's visit to Sri Lanka last week had been intended to pave the way for the nonattendance of Indian Premier, Manmohan Singh, at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Colombo, well-placed Indian sources said. "The Premier's visit would depend on the conditions prevailing at the time and a decision would be taken on an appropriate time," sources said.

Sources added, the Indian Premier would have to take note of the constituency pressure from Tamil Nadu in light of the parliamentary elections in India scheduled to be held in April-May next year. Tamil Nadu elects around 40 MPs to the Lok Sabha, India's lower house of Parliament.

Regional parties have grown increasingly powerful and are exerting pressure on New Delhi as the Congress Party is losing the hold in the states, the sources noted. However, in an effort to appease Colombo, India has assured that Kamalesh Sharma, the Secretary General of the Commonwealth, has prevented several issues connected to Sri Lanka being taken up at the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) in New York and any steps being taken to the detriment of the country. it is also learnt that Sharma strongly lobbied to retain Colombo as CHOGM's venue despite serious pressure from several countries to shift the venue, owing to Sri Lanka's human rights record.

CMAG, a rotating group of foreign ministers of the Commonwealth has the authority to suspend member States for violating Commonwealth principles.

It can be convened by the Secretary-General when required to deal with a perceived violation of the Commonwealth principles and values. CMAG meets annually on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly in New York and can also meet in extraordinary session, when required.

Another core issue to be extensively discussed during the Indian External Affairs Minister's visit was New Delhi's request for the immediate release of the Indian fishermen and the impounded Indian fishing boats. The Indian envoy has thanked President Mahinda Rajapaksa for releasing the majority of the fishermen, expressing his confidence in the issue of boats being addressed by the Sri Lankan Government.

Protest against CHOGM in Sri Lanka intensifies in Tamil Nadu

( October 13, 2013, Chennai, Sri Lanka Guardian)'Boycott CHoGM in Sri Lanka', a narrowed down and concrete demand reverberating from its parent 'Boycott Sri Lanka' movement is now gaining impelling strength all over the world, especially in India. While Tamils around the world and many international human rights organizations have called for an independent international investigation of war crimes by Sri Lanka, the Common Wealth Council has planned to enthrone the alleged war crimes perpetrator Mahinda Rajapaksa as the “Commonwealth Chairperson-in office” for the next 2 years in the CHOGM summit which is to be held in Sri Lanka between November 15- 17, 2013.

Protest Against CHOGM in Sri Lanka Intensifies in Tamil Nadu by nelvely

UN says Sri Lanka did not implement its proposals

 Sunday, 13 October 2013 

The United Nations has said it had continuously pushed for safe zones and at times for the fighting to be suspended during the final stages of the war in Sri Lanka, but the concepts were not implemented in full.

Associate Spokesperson for the UN Secretary General, Farhan Haq has said that the UN had at the time made every effort to push for greater safety for the civilian population.

“I would just refer you to the statements we put out at the time which did in fact call for corridors for peace; places where essentially combat could be halted in order to allow for people to flee from the fighting. Each situation is different and the statements are different, but yes, we did try to call for places where people could be safe,” he has told the daily UN press briefing.
“There was a proposal, as you know, there were proposals both for safe zones as well as for days when the fighting would be halted. As you know, many of those concepts did not work out or be implemented the way that we had wanted them to be, but I’d just refer you to the statements which were part of our effort to push for greater safety for the civilian population. And of course, you have seen what our follow-up reports have said also,” he has added.

Wigneswaran calls for unity

October 13, 2013

Northern Province Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran has called for unity in the North, especially among the Tamils and Muslims.

Speaking after visiting a Mosque in Jaffna, Wigneswaran said that Tamils and Muslims must join hands to make a change in the North, the Jaffna Tamil media reported.

Muslim groups in the North, especially in Mannar had, prior to the Northern Provincial Council elections, raised concerns over the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) winning the elections.

However Wigneswaran says he is keen to work with the Muslims and that the time has come for religious differences to be put aside and people to live as people.

“Those who have faith in God should place humanity first and live together with others,” he said.

He recalled that the TNA has appointed a Muslim as a Minister in the Northern Provincial Council in order to ensure Muslim issues are also addressed. (Colombo Gazette)

CCR expresses deep concerns over Canadian response to Sri Lankans fleeing human rights abuses

11 October 2013

CCR calls for more consistency in Canada’s response to the serious human rights abuses that continue to occur in Sri Lanka.

On the one hand, CCR welcomes the Prime Minister’s recent strong statement about the human rights situation in Sri Lanka. In particular he noted that the “absence of accountability for the serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian standards during and after the civil war is unacceptable.”

On the other hand, CCR is shocked by Canada’s treatment of Sri Lankans who fled to Canada to escape those human rights violations, most particularly those on the MV Sun Sea who arrived on the West Coast in August 2010.

A recently disclosed memo reveals that before the boat had even arrived, Canada Border Services Agency was directing its officers to use all legal means to detain the passengers as long as possible, to try to have them declared inadmissible and to argue against them being recognized as refugees. This directive was given even though, as the memo itself recognizes, many were likely to be refugees and there might be women and children on board. The rationale for this legal harassment of the passengers was to “ensure that a deterrent for future arrivals is created.”

Furthermore, newly publicized information about the fate of one of the passengers on the Sun Sea raises deeply troubling questions about the relationship of the Canadian government to the Sri Lankan authorities. Sathyapavan “Sathi” Aseervatham, who was recently killed in Sri Lanka, alleged in an affidavit that he was tortured on his return to Sri Lanka, by authorities who knew that he had been on the Sun Sea. Did the Canadian government share the names of the Sun Sea passengers with the Sri Lankan authorities? He was subsequently called in by the Sri Lankan authorities (the Terrorist Investigations Division) who allegedly interviewed him about the affidavit in the presence of officers of the Canada Border Services Agency. Did the Canadian government share a confidential affidavit alleging torture to the very authorities alleged to have committed the torture?

The CCR calls for an investigation into these questions. The CCR notes with regret that the Canada Border Services Agency has no external complaints mechanism, meaning that formally there is no one to investigate such allegations other than the CBSA itself.

Contact:

Colleen French, Communication Coordinator, Canadian Council for Refugees, 514-277-7223, ext. 1, 514-476-3971 (cell), cfrench@ccrweb.ca

Search For C4 Journo

By Indika Sri Aravinda- Sunday, October 13, 2013

The Sunday Leader learns that defence authorities were placed on high alert last week after information was received that a Channel 4 journalist was in the country.
Intelligence agencies had initially alerted the Terrorist Investigations Department (TID) to look for the journalist and his partner who were believed to have been staying at an apartment in Colombo.
Police intelligence sources said that the journalist had been staying at the Hilton hotel while having an apartment in Colombo.
Initial investigations have revealed that the journalist from the controversial British television channel and his partner had been travelling to Sri Lanka frequently and were possibly involved in a private business activity in the country.
The defence authorities however are trying to ascertain if the journalist was also involved in gathering information with the intention of tarnishing the image of the country.
The manager of the apartment where the couple were staying was questioned last Friday and further investigations are underway.
Channel 4 was behind the controversial video series on the final stages of the war in Sri Lanka including the ‘No Fire Zone’ video which alleges that hundreds of civilians were killed during the final battle between the army and the LTTE.
The alert on the couple was issued as government and security agencies make preparations for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) to be held in Sri Lanka next month.
Channel 4 had said it will attempt to be in Sri Lanka to cover the summit and will apply for access through the normal process. The government has said that if Channel 4 fulfils the requirements as stipulated by the Commonwealth Secretariat then they will be allowed into the country.

‘Media repression and Tamils’ – Tamils Against Genocide

12 October 2013

In a preview of a report analysing media violence in Sri Lanka, Tamils Against Genocide (TAG) has determined that the Sri Lankan “state repression of the media mirrors the state’s wider ethno-chauvinist policies”, placing Tamil journalists at a greater risk of violence than their Sinhalese counterparts.

Examining data from, Journalists for Democracy (JDS), TAG found that of all the reported murdered or disappeared journalists listed by JDS since 2004, 37 are media workers of ethnic Tamil origin while 4 are ethnic Sinhalese and 2 Sri Lankan Muslims.

The advocacy group went on to observe that approximately 75 per cent have taken place in the majority Tamil-speaking regions of the island.

Extracts of their piece have been reproduced below. See the full piece here.

"Sri Lanka has gained a reputation as one of the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists alongside Afghanistan, Somalia, Eritrea and North Korea."

"Yet considering that much of Sri Lanka’s post-independence period has been entrenched in ethnic violence, the central question of race has been absent in the analysis of media attacks."
"Indeed, often ethnicities of attacked media workers remain unspecified in the reporting of human rights and news organisations. With the erosion of ethnic labels in the reporting of violence against media personnel, some core reasons for the Sri Lankan states repression of media personnel elude us." 
"Of all murdered or disappeared journalists listed by JDS since 2004, 37 are media workers of ethnic Tamil origin while 4 are ethnic Sinhalese and 2 Sri Lankan Muslims. Given that approximately 87 per cent of the victims of state repression against the media have been Tamil, one can speak of the appliance of ethnically discriminate violence by the state."
"Thus State repression of the media mirrors the state’s wider ethno-chauvinist policies."
"The rate of assassinations and/or abductions of Tamil media workers to that of non-Tamils is almost nine-to-one, yet the island’s Tamil population only makes up approximately 12 percent of the country’s inhabitants, according to Sri Lanka’s last census (2012)."
"Sri Lanka may be one of the most dangerous countries for journalists, but it is far from spatially evenly dangerous: of the lethal attacks and/or abductions of media personnel that happened since 2004, approximately 75 per cent have taken place in the majority Tamil-speaking regions of the island."

"In brief, we find the threats to life amplify vastly if one is a media employee of Tamil origin working in a majority Tamil-speaking region of the country. Being critical of the government of Sri Lanka is less pertinent as a risk factor than being critical of the government’s conduct pre, during and post the conflict, with regards to the Tamil population. We contend that violence against the media contributes to the denial of justice for crimes committed against the Tamil population in Sri Lanka."

As a Tamil journalist reflected, for members of Tamil media organisations the stakes were always higher.
This ethnic dynamic has contributed as a significant block to the accountability that Prime Minister Harper speaks of in reference to the last phase of the 2009 war in the Tamil dominated North: indeed the war has been often described in the media with a cliché as a war without witness.

Venal synthetic lawyer Namal’s unqualified zombie appointed as Director SL Insurance
(Lanka-e-News-13.Oct.11.30AM) It is with profound concern Lanka e news reveals to the helpless hapless people of the country that an individual who could not succeed even in the GCE advanced level exam had been appointed as Director of Sri Lanka Insurance , a premier financial Institution that discharges most responsible tasks towards the people . The only qualification of this new director that had propelled him to this post is: he is a rugby playing mate of the synthetic lawyer Namal Rajapakse.

This new Director is Sanjaya V R Samarasinghe who is 26 years old. He was appointed to this post last June. In the official website it was reported that he has a Business Administration degree from the Middlesex University , England.

This is an absolute lie because that University does not conduct such a course. The course available in that University is Business and management leading to a degree. The photo herein clearly confirms this. 

(See this link - http://www.mdx.ac.uk/courses/undergraduate/ug_az_list/index.aspx)

Hence this duffer cum bluffer has only passed the GCE ord. level exam as he was unsuccessful in the GCE adv. level exam like Namal , and has passed only in one subject. In other words , he is a only rugby player mate of Namal at St. Thomas’s College , with a head as empty as a rugby ball filled with air.

These nitwits went to England for education , and after paying only for the first year examination had been roaming the streets . Thereafter when they failed in the exam , returned to the country and are displaying phony on line degree certificates . The above evidence bears testimony.

In the circumstances , Sanjaya Samarasinghe the empty headed brat is obviously not suitable to be a Director of a premier financial Institution . Even for an appointment to an ordinary job in a sector , the candidate must have at least two years experience, but this rugby zombie does not have even that. 

These days it is Sanjaya who is used by Namal to collect the illicit commissions in his business deals.That is Sanjaya is in fact Namal’s commission collector.

By appointing zombies like Sanjaya as Director , the Sri Lanka (SL) Insurance is made to sponsor Namal’s Carlton car races spending Rs. 200 to 400 million. The SL Insurance which is reluctant to make a disbursement of even Rs. 100,000/- towards a genuine accident claim is unhesitatingly wasting Rs. 200 to 400 million on the Carlton race.

It is worthy of note that the SL Insurance had reduced the payment of Rs. One million towards a victim who dies in a fatal accident to Rs. 500,000/-. The lawyers of the SL Insurance in respect of about 160 cases that were compounded last year , have cited various reasons from time to time in defense of the inability to pay the sums agreed.. Yet this SL Insurance under the destructive influence of the venal synthetic lawyer has the capacity to release Rs. 400 million to sponsor Carlton car race.

Meanwhile , a list of SLFP lawyers had been submitted by Namal- Sanjaya with the request to entrust the cases to the SLFP lawyers in those areas of the branches of SL Insurance . While there are competent lawyers in those areas , the cases are being entrusted to the synthetic lawyer’s moronic friends and acolytes . It is to be noted that SL Insurance is an institution which handles about 50 cases a day.

(Please await a further report on how another important Institution was driven into total destruction and despair following the appointment of another nincompoop like Sanjaya - another zombie of Namal to a top notch position of that Institution.)

Deciphering The Vanniyas; A People Out Of The Box

By Darshanie Ratnawalli -October 13, 2013 |

Darshanie Ratnawalli

During the twilight of the Vanniyas, that is, the latter half of the 19^th century, the last remaining representatives of that identity were found eking out a living in several villages of Nuvarakalaviya (North Central province) and Northern province (mainly around Vavuniya in Kurunthankulam and Nochcikulam or Chinna Cheddikulam). They were living, breathing fossils of a species of people that have entered case studies of modern historiography as exemplifiers of the incorporating drives of the pre-modern Lankan state. “Thus, in Sinhale on the one hand there existed an incorporative tolerance that a) permitted immigrant bodies to settle in the Vanni and the Eastern Province…”-(Michael Roberts, “Prejudice and Hate in Pluralist Settings: The Kingdom of Kandy”, 2000).

“The case presents a fascinating study of a people originating from different immigrant cultures who were compelled by circumstances and the office and responsibilities they accepted, to assimilate into another culture.”- (D. G. B de Silva, “New Light On Vanniyas And Their Chieftaincies Based On Folk Historical Tradition As Found In Palm-Leaf Mss. In The Hugh Nevill Collection[i]”)

To get back to these late 19^th century representatives of the Vanniya twilight, certain signature features set them apart. They claimed themselves to be Sinhalese, but preserved a tradition of being “descendants of certain Tamils who came over from the continent in the time of Raja Sen, who granted to each extensive tracts of land[ii]”-(A. Brodie, J.R.A.S (C.B) Vol III, 1856). Theirs was a distinct caste the membership of which had dwindled in this twilight, to a few villages in the Northern and North Central provinces.  This was the “Wanni caste”, which was “not general over the Island and which is superior to that which is elsewhere considered the highest.”- (Brodie, op.cit). Nevertheless, they had “no money and cannot buy land” and was “entirely dependent on hunting and occasional chena cultivation”- (S. Fowler, Diary of 3^rd May 1887). “They still use the primitive bow and arrow and are well acquainted with the most remote jungles through which they wander in search of honey and game. There are some peculiarities in their dialect, which with their mode of life, suggest relationship with the Veddah, but they altogether repudiate the idea”-(Fowler, op.cit).                             Read More   

Beggaring the People; Enslaving the Nation

by Tisaranee Gunasekara

“We used to live in the cashew plantation in ‘Aaru Bokka’. First they came from the Port and measured our land…. Then they sent letters. Our land has been valued at very low levels… 2 lakhs, 3 lakhs…. There were about 70 families…. We all owned plots of about 2.5 acres…. (After we protested) they increased it to 5 lakhs, 6 lakhs… And we moved into these plots of 20 perches….. Around this time of the year, the cashew would have brought us the most income… The…reservoirs…had been filled up…. We had brick-making huts. We never got compensation for any of those structures….. Before we left, they told us that one member from each family would be given a job… We didn’t get that either…. No one was given a job…. We are now totally helpless”.

Beggaring the People; Enslaving the Nation by nelvely

PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES CENTRAL TO DISASTER RESILIENCE INITIATIVES,

SECRETARY-GENERAL SAYS IN MESSAGE FOR INTERNATIONAL OBSERVANCE

Secretary-General SG/SM/15383  ENV/DEV/1389  OBV/1267

9 October 2013

Following is UN Secretary-General Ban-Ki-moon’s message for the International Day for Disaster Reduction, observed on 13 October:

“Persons with disabilities are the biggest untapped resource for disaster planners around the world.”  These are the words of Firoz Ali Alizada, a double amputee from Afghanistan who responded to a United Nations survey which uncovered scores of stories that speak to the ingenuity and drive of persons with disabilities to manage risk from disasters.

More than 1 billion persons in the world live with a disability.  This year’s commemoration of the International Day for Disaster Reduction is an opportunity to recognize their vital role in fostering resilience.

Unfortunately, most persons with disabilities have never participated in disaster risk management or related planning and decision-making processes.  They suffer disproportionately high levels of disaster-related mortality and injuries.

Early warning systems, public awareness campaigns and other responses often fail to consider the needs of persons with disabilities, putting them at an unnecessarily elevated risk and sending a harmful message of inequality.

We can change this situation by including persons with disabilities in disaster resilience initiatives and policy planning.  The recent General Assembly High-level Meeting on Disability and Development recognized the urgent need for action on this issue, which is also addressed in the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Inclusion saves lives.  And it empowers persons with disabilities to take ownership of their own safety — and that of their community.  We can already see their potential contribution in the many persons with visible and invisible disabilities around the world who already serve as volunteers and workers helping communities when disaster hits to cope and bounce back.

On the International Day for Disaster Reduction, let us resolve to do everything possible to ensure that all persons with disabilities have the highest possible levels of safety and the greatest possible chance to contribute to the overall well-being of society.  Let us build an inclusive world where persons with disabilities can play an even greater role as resourceful agents of change.

For information media • not an official record

Justice for victims of crime

National authority and special fund to provide large amounts as compensation; witnesses also to be protected

Sunday, October 13, 2013

The Government will set up a National Authority for the protection of victims of crime. This is one of the major highlights of an Assistance and Protection of Victims of Crime (NAPVC) Bill that will be introduced in Parliament.

The proposed Authority will be empowered to “provide assistance and redress to victims of crime upon an application.” It will be in the form of compensation from a special fund to be established for the purpose and to be managed by the new Authority.

The NAPVC is to be vested with quasi- judicial functions to receive complaints of alleged and imminent infringement of rights and entitlement of victims of crime and witnesses and conduct investigations and inquiries into such complaints. The new law will require relevant authorities to take “appropriate corrective measures.”

The draft of the proposed Bill which is now being knocked into final shape by the Ministry of Justice also makes provision for the establishment of a separate division in the Police Department for protection of victims of crime and witnesses. 

Assistance and protection provided to victims of crime and witnesses by courts, in terms of the new law, will include the adoption of special measures such as the conduct of judicial proceedings in camera, preventing the victims of crime or witnesses being unnecessarily harassed, intimidated or influenced by seeing the accused present at the venue of the trial or inquiry. This is intended to prevent the identity of the victim of crime or witnesses from being disclosed. According to the Ministry of Justice, which has worked out the outlines, “this is to be achieved through a video conferencing facility linked to a remote location.” Such a location will be within the territory of Sri Lanka, it says.

Other highlights of the new law:

• There will be a statutorily recognised scheme to enable victims of crime to obtain compensation through courts from the perpetrators for losses suffered as a result of offences perpetrated against them. The court is to be empowered upon the conviction of an accused to order him or her to pay an amount not exceeding one million rupees as compensation to a victim of crime, in addition to the penal sanctions imposed on the accused.
• The Bill will vest jurisdiction in the High Court and Magistrate Court following the conviction of a person for having committed an offence, to impose orders for the payment, in addition to the fine, of an amount not exceeding 20 per cent of the fine payable. The amount so paid is to be remitted to the Victims of Crime and Witnesses Assistance and Protection Fund.
• The Bill will provide for the “recognition of certain rights and entitlements of victims of crime and witnesses and ensures that their rights are protected and that they receive the required assistance and redress.
• The Bill also provides for “recognition of certain harmful forms of conduct against victims of crime and witnesses that are likely to subvert the course of justice, which have been recognised as offences.”

Priyath B. Wickrama to run for chief minister versus Shan Wijelal!

 Sunday, 13 October 2013 

At the next election for the Southern Provincial Council, the president has decided that, Sri Lanka Ports Authority Chairman Dr. Priyath Bandu Wickrama will contest as the chief ministerial candidate against incumbent Shan Wijelal de Silva.

The president is to again apply his ‘setting one against the other’ theory which he had successfully tested in the North Western Provincial Council polls and to field Priyath B. Wickrama against the incumbent CM, calling him a proud son of the Ruhuna as a mark of gratitude of the people there for having rendered an immense service to them by way of gifting the ‘Magampura Port’ to the Ruhuna.

This decision comes due to the president’s well knowing that traditional SLFPers countrywide are rejecting him, and he has impressed upon his advisors the need to create a new group as opposed to these traditional party loyalists. SLPA Chairman Priyath B. Wickrama is well known for his devotion to the president and MP Namal Rajapaksa. As a result, Mr. Priyath B. Wickrama is due to enter politics with blessings of the Rajapaksa family.

Bribery Commission slammed for not following COPE directives

 Sunday, 13 October 2013 05:02

The Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) has been slammed for not following directives of the parliamentary Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) to investigate cases of corruption found in state institutions.

The main opposition UNP has said that the CIABOC has not followed the parliamentary directives and investigate corruption cases amounting to hundreds of billions.

UNP MP and former Chairman of the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE), Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe has told parliament that during his tenure as the head of the Committee had forwarded 16 cases of corruption to the CIABOC.
He has explained that while the cases were forwarded in 2007, the CIABOC has failed to inform parliament of the progress of the investigation.

He has added that the then Speaker W.J.M. Lokubandara had ordered the head of the CIABOC to submit to parliament a progress report on the investigations.