UN rapp slams Lankan prisons

October 28, 2013

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on violence against women, Rashida Manjoo says in some Sri Lankan prisons, cells are infested with rats; beds, mats and pillows are often lacking; and no fans are provided even when temperatures climb to dangerous levels.

Manjoo has said this in a report on the ‘Causes, Conditions and Consequences of Women’s Incarceration’ submitted to the UN General Assembly, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said today.

Too many women in detention, facing violence and harsh conditions, warns UN expert

NEW YORK / GENEVA (28 October 2013) – Many countries are witnessing a disproportionate rate of increase of incarcerated women, compared to their male counterparts, as well as harsher detention conditions for them than men, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on violence against women, Rashida Manjoo, warned.

UN Rapp Slams Lankan Prisons by nelvely

Dep. Minister former Cricketer Sanath Jayasuriya holds out death threats to veteran singers Bhathiya –Santush
(Lanka-e-News-29.Oct.2013, 3.00PM) Deputy Minister Sanath Jayasuriya the erstwhile cricketer had turned murderer after joining the MaRa regime . Like birds of a feather flock together, he had started holding out murder threats to law abiding members of the society in the same lines as MaRa and his JaRas. 

At the annual meeting held by the cricket Association , the controversial song sung by Sunil Perera had provoked Sanath and him only . Sanath whose hands were used to dashing coconuts, playing elle and baseball , is now trying to become a hero among those who do not know cricket , after joining the MaRa regime . He is unleashing his fury of a monkey from a tree hitting out at humans . It is a well known fact that many have likened Sanath to a monkey , but that does not mean that he must display the brute strength of a monkey in a social gathering of humans .How can this cranky who could not live for a few years with a single spouse decently behave in a civilized way in a social group and enjoy a melodious song ?

This cranky who is likened to a monkey and naturally therefore incapable of enjoying the melody had summoned Bathiya and Santush who were the lead singers of Sunil Perera’s musical event , and held out dire death threats.

After summoning the two singers to a home of a cricket association official near Zahira College , Maradana , Sanath had attempted to assault them. At that moment Sanath had been with his full security contingent . Sanath in full fury had screamed ‘ if you all try to do unnecessary things again , I shall kill both of you and hide your bodies so that none can discover, ’ while displaying his characteristic uncouth monkey on the tree gestures .

As Bhathiya and Santush are friends of the MaRa regime , they have not publicized this , and even later denied the incident.

Murder probe as Sri Lankan stabbed to death while out delivering pizzas

A SRI Lankan pizza delivery man who came to England to earn money to support his family has been murdered while out working in South Yorkshire.

29October
2013
00:01

Thavisha Peiris, who moved to Sheffield two-and-a-half years ago to study at university, was found dead late on Sunday night. Police have launched a murder investigation over the death of the “calm and quiet” 25-year-old Buddhist, who is originally from Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo.

Three men have been arrested since he was found at 10.30pm with stab wounds in Southey Crescent, Sheffield.

A friend of Mr Peiris, who did not want to be named, said: “He is a calm and quiet person, he is really funny with all the people. He didn’t have any enemies like that so I don’t know why they killed him. He is a very funny and good guy, everyone knows that. We only know that he was stabbed multiple times, that is the only thing I know. “

Mr Peiris came to England in 2011 to study software engineering at Sheffield Hallam University. Since finishing his course he has worked full time, including for one-and-a-half years at Domino’s Pizza, while looking for a job where he could use his qualification.

His friend said: “We can’t even believe it even now. I still haven’t seen the body. Even the family can’t believe it, they can’t believe that he is dead.

“He wanted to support his family by working here, that is the main thing he had got on his mind. He wanted to leave them money, he had a plan to get his parents here.”

South Yorkshire Police are urging anyone with information about the attack to call 101.

Future With Solar Power; Covert Moves To Sell Norochcholai Plant

By Charitha Ratwatte -October 29, 2013

Charitha Ratwatte

With alternative energy sources improving their economic performance virtually by the day, combined with the USA accessing more and more domestic sources of crude oil and gas through hydraulic fracturing technology, the state of play in the power sector has undergone a revolutionary change.

South Asia’s power producers are faced with mammoth problems with galloping consumption of electricity. Conventional energy generation is in a mess in most South Asian countries, except Bhutan and Nepal, which have vast untapped hydro resources and low demand/consumption.

Importing coal, gas or oil is expensive; even in countries like India, which has coal resources, the State coal monopoly is unable to dig out enough coal to meet the demand. Coal has also to be imported. The domestic coal extracting industry is one horrendous mess of corruption.

Tycoons such as Kumar Mangalam Birla of the Adithiya Birla Group and Naveen Jindal of Jindal Steel and Power have got embroiled in corruption litigation, causing panic among Indian tycoons. As a result, brown outs and black outs are the norm; consumers rely on highly polluting diesel. India has found some oil and gas in the Cauvery Basin, but not as much as expected.

On the Sri Lanka side of the border in the Palk Strait, the Mannar Basin, two gas discoveries have been made by Cairn India. There is an issue as to whether these are commercially viable quantities. The price at which it can be extracted and sold has not been worked out. It is said that it would be a floating price negotiated depending on the cost of production and the benefit of import substitution to the CEB.

Solar success story                                Read More 

A Kind Note To The Institute Of Engineers Sri Lanka (IESL)

By Thrishantha Nanayakkara -October 29, 2013 

Dr. Thrishantha Nanayakkara

I was very happy to see that IESL has started to organize a National Engineering Conference. We did not have this kind of conferences when we were Engineering students in Sri Lanka. Later when we were known among fellow engineers in other countries, we started to organize an annual conference in Sri Lanka that attracts on average researchers from 18 countries to Sri Lanka to present their findings in technology for sustainable development. Through that experience I know the impact of this kind of conferences held in Sri Lanka on the lives of local engineers and students.

There is no doubt that IESL senior members may know that a technical conference has a formal structure. It has sessions on different themes, and it has plenary talks and keynote talks given by prominent scientists/engineers in the field. For instance, I refer the reader to keynote speeches in several annual conferences held in Sri Lanka such as The International Conference on Industrial and Automation Systemsand International Conference on Building Resilience. One may see that the keynote speakers are prominent researchers or professionals in the specific field.

Apart from technical conferences, Sri Lanka has had a long culture of recognizing the engineers behind National projects like giving engineer Wimalasurendra’s name to the power station he gave leadership to, and naming numerous roads in Colombo after the respective Engineers who built them even in the Colonial times.

I am sure IESL is aware of the reason as to why we do not get politically sensitive guests involved in technical roles in conferences. We avoid that because the whole purpose of the conference is to bring together people with diverse political, ethnic, and religious backgrounds to focus on a given set of technical topics without unnecessary distractions. Sri Lanka is not without major recent projects if you wanted keynote speakers with a local relevance. How about the chief engineer of Hambantota harbor project, Norichcholai power station project, the Southern Highway project, or even the design engineer of Sri Lanka’s first satellite? They may well be Chinese Engineers. But it does not matter as long as he/she could share some technical experience with local engineers. Was there a major reason to skip all those opportunities to get the defense secretary to do this key technical job? If you really wanted to honor him, you could have given him a guest of honor speech, which is not technical. You cannot avoid young members shying away from IESL if they begin to feel that their professional body is getting politicized. I do not want IESL to face that disaster. Therefore, I urge all IESL members to take this issue up in the next general meeting to avoid future disappointments.

Drone attacks: UN rights experts express concern about the potential illegal use of armed drone

Drone attacks: UN rights experts express concern about the potential illegal use of armed drone

NEW YORK (25 October 2013) – Two United Nations human rights experts today expressed concern about the potential illegal use of armed drones. In two separate reports to the UN General Assembly, the experts called upon States to be transparent in their use of drones as weapons, to investigate allegations of violations of the right to life through drone killings, and to respect all applicable international law standards.Drone Attacks UN Rights Experts Express Concern About the Potential Illegal Use of Armed Drone by nelvely

‘Waterloo Suresh’ gets two years prison for helping terrorists acquire ‘sophisticated’ military tech

Stewart Bell | 28/10/13 

TORONTO — A Canadian who helped a Sri Lankan rebel group acquire “sophisticated military technology” was sentenced by a New York judge Monday to two years imprisonment.

Suresh Sriskandarajah, 33, also known as “Waterloo Suresh,” had pleaded guilty in July to conspiracy to provide material support to a terrorist organization, Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tigers.

In pre-sentencing arguments, he had asked to be released immediately with time served, but U.S. prosecutors had sought a 15-year prison term, saying he had committed a “gravely serious offence.”

He has already spent about 10 months in U.S. custody while his case worked its way through the courts. That means he could be held until as late as December 2014. He will be deported to Canada once his sentenced has been served.

The former president of the Tamil Students Association at University of Waterloo, where he studied engineering, Sriskandarajah was arrested in Toronto in 2006 following a joint RCMP-FBI investigation into the networks that were supplying weapons, money and equipment to the Tamil Tigers.

In December, he was extradited to New York to stand trial on charges related to his alleged attempts to “procure sophisticated military technology” for the rebels between 2004 and 2006.

HandoutSuresh Sriskandarajah burying bodies following December 26, 2004 tsunami in northern Sri Lanka.

A sentencing report filed with the court by defence lawyer Joshua Dratel saidthat Sriskandarajah’s “extraordinary background, character and accomplishments, as well as certain unique elements of the case, more than justify a sentence of ‘time served.’”

The report cited Sriskandarajah’s traumatic upbringing during the Sri Lankan civil war and his “stellar record of achievement,” which includes degrees in engineer, business administration and the arts. He was completing a law degree at theUniversity of Ottawa when he was extradited.

Since his extradition to the U.S., Sriskandarajah has written his law school exams and “singlehandedly resuscitated” the tutoring programs at the Brooklyn detention centre where he was held.

MP Scott writes that because of his ‘impressive educational accomplishments,’ Suresh ‘truly stand[s] out as a role model’ for young Canadian Tamils

“Suresh’s background, history, and character demonstrate that his criminal conduct represents an aberration in a life dedicated to family, education and community,” his lawyer wrote.

The lawyer also referred to letters of support written by NDP MPs Craig Scott, Rathika Sitsabaiesan and Peter Julian. In his letter, Mr. Scott described Sriskandarajah as “full of the desire to help others and of intelligence in equal measure.”

Suresh “sought out” the Toronto-Danforth MP for help with a Sri Lankan human rights campaign, and the two “became well-acquainted when Suresh volunteered with MP Scott’s campaign to serve in the House of Commons,” the sentencing report said.

“MP Scott writes that because of his ‘impressive educational accomplishments,’ Suresh ‘truly stand[s] out as a role model’ for young Canadian Tamils, who are ‘amongst the most socially and educationally disadvantaged group’ in Canadian society.

“MP Scott’s experience with Suresh assures him that, ‘if given the chance, he will give back — as husband, as citizen, as humanitarian,’” according to the report.

Douglas Alexander is wrong: Sri Lanka does not deserve to be boycotted

The country has been through horrors but has made huge progress. Britain should attend the Commonwealth summit in Colombo

Sri Lanka's president Mahinda Rajapaksa at an event marking three years since the civil war. 'Considerable progress has been made since the end of hostilities.' Photograph: Buddhika Weerasinghe/Getty Images

Peter Heap-27 October 2013

Douglas Alexander, the shadow foreign secretary, urges the prime minister and foreign secretary not to attend next month's Commonwealth heads of government meeting (CHOGM) in Sri Lanka (David Cameron should boycott the Commonwealth summit in Sri Lanka, 21 October). His premises and his conclusion bear challenge.

He refers to "two decades of civil war that have seen 40,000 civilians lose their lives". There is no accurate figure, but this is at the top end of credible estimates. During most of the conflict most casualties came from the reign of terror of the LTTE (Tamil Tigers), who destroyed trains, buses and buildings. Assassination victims included President Premadasa, India's Rajiv Gandhi, and three Tamil mayors. At the war's end civilian casualties were high principally because the LTTE callously used them as a human shield between themselves and advancing government forces. Sri Lanka's critics seem to have scant understanding of what the country has gone through.

Alexander suggests Sri Lanka's "bleak human rights record" is reason to boycott the Commonwealth summit, and even hints that Sri Lanka might be expelled: where the Commonwealth's "basic values" ("of democracy and human rights") "are challenged from within, it is right that members be prepared to act, as was demonstrated when the Mugabe government was suspended from the Commonwealth's ranks".

This view is surely unjustified. Sri Lanka has been a fully functioning democracy since independence. On human rights it is not an unblemished picture but a Royal Commonwealth Society report,Commonwealth Compared 2013, which measured 168 countries on human rights criteria such as press freedom, democracy and inequality, ranked Sri Lanka 68th in the world and 14th in the Commonwealth – comfortably in the top half of each. Would we hear similar calls to boycott a summit in the countries listed below Sri Lanka?

Alexander suggests "the remaining weeks before the summit should rightly focus our attention on the Sri Lankan government's conduct". Might that focus then include the considerable progress that has been made since the end of hostilities: clearing around a million landmines laid by the LTTE; massive rebuilding of infrastructure, housing and schools in wartorn areas; the acceptance of Tamil as an equal official language; the holding of elections in the north and east, giving people there their first chance to vote in 30 years; and the substantial reduction in the military presence in the north. Sri Lanka surely deserves some recognition of this progress.

Britain needs a proper presence at the coming CHOGM. The meeting is not about Sri Lanka. It uniquely brings together around 50 heads of governments. For Britain to stay away would do huge damage to the Commonwealth and to the prospects for future summits. When on the horizon lies the possibility of Britain leaving the EU, is this the time to snub the Commonwealth? Such an extreme step is surely not justified.

Chief Minister CV Wigneswaran - Inaugural Address at Northern Provincial Council, Sri Lanka

TNA Media Tribune @TNAMediaTribune

TwitLonger

28th October 2013 from TwitLonger

Maiden address made by Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran at the Inaugural Session of #NPC #SriLanka, Oct 25, 2013

 

Hon. Chairman of the Council, Hon. Members and Hon. Guests,

Chief Minister CV Wigneswaran - Inaugural Address at Northern Provincial Council, Sri Lanka by nelvely

TNA to stay away from CHOGM summit

COLOMBO, October 27, 2013

In another blow for the troubled Commonwealth Heads of Government (CHOGM) summit to be held in Colombo in November, Sri Lanka’s main Tamil party has said it would boycott the event.

“We will not take part in CHOGM. But our staying away does not mean we are protesting against the participating nations. We will be eager to meet them,” Mavai Senathirajah, a senior Tamil National Alliance (TNA) legislator said on Saturday.

TNA sources said that during the inaugural meeting of the northern provincial council, the TNA group had resolved that Chief Minister of the Tamil-dominated northern province C.V. Wigneswaran must shun the CHOGM in Colombo from November 15 to 17.

The Marxist JVP or the People’s Liberation Front General Secretary Tilwin Silva said the party did not want to identify with British imperialist projects.

The main opposition UNP dubbed the event an extravagant exercise which the country could ill afford.

“It is not a question of our stand if the summit should be hosted or not, but can the country afford it,” Tissa Attanayake, the UNP General Secretary said.

Sri Lanka is to take over the chair of the 54-nation bloc of former British colonies for the next two years from Australia.

Reacting to comments from opposition parties, senior Minister John Seneviratne said that anyone trying to upset CHOGM would be blocking the progress of the nation.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper is the only head of state to stay away from the summit citing Sri Lanka’s lack of progress in human rights and reconciliation after the end of the civil war in 2009.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is yet to take a decision on whether to attend the summit as political parties in Tamil Nadu are strongly opposed to India’s participation in the event, alleging that Sri Lanka has indulged in atrocities against ethnic Tamils during the conflict.

Expose: Full Text Of Sharma’s Buried 2nd Report: CJ Impeachment Was Unlawful

October 28, 2013 

The two eminent Commonwealth Jurists, whose opinion was sought by the Commonwealth Secretariat on President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s removal of Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake has found that her impeachment was flawed and a direct violation of Commonwealth Values and the process undertaken to remove the CJ did not comply with the Constitution and was unlawful, Colombo Telegraph can exclusively reveal today.

Sir Jeffrey Jowell, Q.C.

On August 15, Colombo Telegraph exclusively revealed that the Commonwealth Secretary General Kamalesh Sharma who had commissioned two key legal opinions from eminent Commonwealth Jurists on the Sri Lankan Government’s impeachment of its Chief Justice, Shirani Bandaranayake had decided to withhold the findings of those reports from the rest of the organisation.

Sharma refused to disclose the findings, even to the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group, the Commonwealth’s organ to measure state compliance with the organisation’s core values and principles. Queried on the topic by the Canadian High Commission in UK, Sharma responded that some matters were ‘privileged’ communications to his office.

Again, on September 9, 2013 Colombo Telegraph exclusively revealed the legal opinion sought and then buried by the Secretary General’s Office. Justice P.N. Langa, former Chief Justice of South Africa and respected jurist, concludes that the Rajapaksa Government’s decision to disregard the Supreme Court Ruling on the impeachment of Chief Justice Bandaranayake was unconstitutional and said it was “sowing the seeds of anarchy.”

Today we can reveal the other report by the UK Jurist Professor Sir Jeffrey Jowell, Q.C.,one of Britain’s best-known academics, had been at work drafting amendments to ensure safeguards to the Crime and Security Bill, Emeritus Professor of Public Law and Dean of the Faculty of Law, University College London, which concludes that removing Chief Justice Bandaranayake was unconstitutional.

We publish below the full report of the Q.C.  Sir Jeffrey Jowell report. Read the page 26 for his conclusions;

Read More

NPC: Festive start, rocky road

By Dharisha Bastians in Jaffna-October 28, 2013 

* At the Northern Provincial Council’s inaugural session, the new Chief Minister sets the assembly up as a platform for Tamil rights with a pledge to build a meritocracy.  But the unseasoned politician and his 29 councillors will grapple with funding concerns, navigating relations with civil administrative officials and managing rifts within the TNA as they step into the business of governance

NPC Festive Start, Rocky Road by nelvely

SL military harasses ex-LTTE female members in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Sunday, 27 October 2013, 23:39 GMT]
The occupying Sri Lanka Army soldiers, coming from the so-called S-cave camp at Thikili-veddai in Batticaloa have been harassing former LTTE female members 6 years after they have been re-united with their families. When some of the women subjected to sexual harassment by the SLA soldiers, complained to rights activists and NGOs, the women were given death threat by the SL military. The Sri Lankan soldiers were also harassing the women to join the SL military. 

The families complain that the SLA soldiers knocking at the doors during nights. The Sri Lankan Police is not acting upon the complaints made by the families. 

Women rights groups have registered similar complaints from Vaakarai and Kathirave’li. 

In a sudden move in September, the SL military intelligence operatives started to intimidate the former LTTE members to join the occupying Army.

Tamils have to live with Sinhala police in North says Police chief

Sunday, October 27, 2013 

Eye Sri Lanka

 Responding to comments made by the Northern Chief Minister that Tamil-speaking policemen should be recruited to serve the people in the Tamil-dominated Northern Province, Sri Lanka’s Police Chief today stated that different police forces cannot be created to suite a certain race. The Sinhala speaking police officers are working in Jaffna and the Tamil community who cannot understand Sinhalese have to live with it as this is the law of the Sri Lanka. Yesterday Defence secretary Gotha Rajapakshe said that the newly elected Chief Minister is NOT allowed to give orders to the Sinhala dominated police in the North but as per the constitution of the country he is in charge of keeping Law and Order in the North.

Inspector General of Police N.K. Illangakoon stated that different police forces cannot be created to suite different races and that all function representing all communities in the country have to be carried out by a single police force.

“Policemen serving in the north with no Tamil language skills and cultural understanding was an annoyance for a long time,” newly elected Chief Minister Wigneswaran had said while speaking at the historic first session of the northern provincial council in Jaffna yesterday (25). ¨As per the Inspector General of Police N.K. Illangakoon the Tamil civilians have no choice, they will have to live with the Sinhala speaking police and suffer. This seems to be the policy of the Racist Sinhala government in Colombo who talk of Reconciliation specialy when they talk to the Western leaders¨ said a Tamil journalist.

When the Jaffna Police Station first started operations few Tamil police officers were recruited and now every police station in Jaffna district has at least 3-4 Tamil policemen of the 30+ Sinhala police officers in these stations.

The police force started recruiting Tamil-speaking officers to resolve the language barrier after 60 years of independence but before the statement by the newly elected Chief Minister of the North, as the north is a Tamil dominated community. At the moment 1 Sinhala Sri Lankan force officer is in Jaffna district to every 5 Tamil civilian living in that district.

More than 60,000 Sinhala police officers are in Sri Lanka and only Around 2,000 Tamil-speaking officers were recruited to assist in the affairs of the Police Department who are currently serving Island wide, Inspector General of Police N.K. Illangakoon said.

The Rational Quest For Mutually Beneficial Solution Starts Now

By Jehan Perera -October 28, 2013

Jehan Perera

The inauguration of the Northern Provincial Council took place in its newly constructed building in Jaffna.  Protocol was followed and the Governor of the Northern Province was accorded his due place in the opening ceremony, notwithstanding repeated demands by TNA leaders to replace the former General with a person drawn from civilian life.  Photographs in the media showed the Governor in the middle flanked by the Chief Minister and TNA leaders.  This was yet another sign that the new provincial administration led by Chief Minister C V Wigneswaran would function within the letter and spirit of the law. As a former judge who rose to the Supreme Court on account of both seniority and merit, Chief Minister Wigneswaran would have an orientation to function within the law of the land.  This would be reassuring to those who are concerned with the past history of ethnic conflict and the bid to divide the country through illegal means.

On the other hand, in keeping with his training, former Justice Wigneswaran could be expected to exercise the powers conferred on him by law and the Constitution. In his inaugural address to the Northern Provincial Council the Chief Minister succeeded in striking a balance that should be acceptable to those on both sides of the divide.  In his inaugural speech, Chief Minister Wigneswaran couched potentially controversial issues in moderate language.  He affirmed a long standing demand of the TNA and many of those who support the provincial council system, when he said that the Northern Provincial Council was ready to wield police and land powers that have not yet been devolved to any of the provincial councils by any of the governments since the passage of the 13th Amendment and the setting up of the devolved provincial system in 1987.

Chief Minister Wigneswaran also echoed the repeated call of TNA leaders for a governor with a civilian rather than military background.   He also said that internal self-determination was possible within a united country.  The new Chief Minister therefore did not shy away from difficult issues and addressed them directly. At the same time he also specifically affirmed that the Tamil people had rejected separatism and violence at the provincial council election.  This would be a message of reassurance.   The concept of internal self-determination was one that came into prominence during the heyday of the LTTE, and was seen as the alternative to their demand for separation.  The concept of internal self-determination at that time was also invariably seen as encompassing the demand for the merger of the Northern and Eastern provinces, which is anathema to most of the Sinhalese population and possibly also the Muslim population.

Sustaining Relations                             Read More 

SL Military issues death threat to NPC members, TNA parliamentarian in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Monday, 28 October 2013, 10:13 GMT]
The occupying Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers deployed in transforming the former High Security Zone in Valikaamam North into a Sinhala Military Zone (SMZ) on Monday rounded up and threatened a delegation of TNA parliamentarian, elected members of the Northern Provincial Council and the members of two civic bodies, at gunpoint on Monday, when the delegation went to the site following the complaints by the uprooted people that the occupying SLA was demolishing their houses using bulldozers. When the TNA parliamentarian E. Saravanapavan and the elected members of Northern Provincial Council M.K. Sivajilingam and Tharmalingam Sitharthan were watching the demolition, armed SLA soldiers with their officers rounded up and threatened the delegation at gunpoint and threatened them to leave the site after deleting photos and recordings from their cameras. 

Journalists who accompanied them were also threatened at gunpoint and their recordings were deleted from the voice recorders and cameras. 

“If anything gets published, we will kill you,” the occupying SLA soldiers at Kadduvan warned the journalists. 

Even after the journalists had left the site, they received threats from a military officer named Mallavarachi from the so-called Civil Military Coordination in Jaffna who ‘advised’ the journalists not to release any photo or recording from the site. If anything was published, the SL military knows who were responsible for the act, the military spokesman has warned the journalists. 

The photos recovered from the cameras of some of the delegation members document the scale of demolition taking place at Kadduvan situated in Valikaamam North. The SL military has fenced off the area where the buildings are being bulldozed. 

The delegation was inspecting the site from outside the fenced area, but they were threatened to leave the site with immediate effect by the SL military officers. 

The journalists who accompanied the visiting delegation said they also witnessed the kind of respect the SL military was showing by issuing death threats at gunpoint to the Tamil parliamentarians and the NPC members. 

The military officer, who threatened the delegation didn’t hesitate to claim that SLA had seized the area to create a settlement for the families of the SLA soldiers. 

The demolition work is taking place at an accelerated phase, the journalists further said. 

The visiting delegation also comprised of NPC member Gajatheepan and TNA members of civic bodies from Valikaamam North and Chu’n’naakam Piratheasa Chapai (PS).

Police counter CM’s criticism of policing in NP

By Shamindra Ferdinando-October 27, 2013,

Police headquarters spokesman SSP Ajith Rohana yesterday said that all police stations in the Northern Province were geared to accept complaints in Tamil.

He told The Island that since the conclusion of the conflict, in May 2009, police headquarters had launched a special project to assign officers proficient in Tamil to police stations in the Northern Province.

The officer was responding to Northern Province Chief Minister C. V. Wigneswaran’s request to the government to appoint Tamil-speaking police personnel in the Northern Province, who would understand the people’s aspirations, language and culture.

In his address to the inaugural session of the Northern Provincial Council, the retired Justice urged the government to ensure that the army stopped taking over private land in the North.

CM Wigneswaran said: "It is important to draw a time-frame for the military to return the land taken over in such a manner to the rightful owners."He also called for a civilian to be appointed as Governor of the Province. The present Governor, G. A. Chandrasiri, is a retired Major General, who once commanded Security Forces deployed in the Jaffna peninsula.

Police spokesman Rohana said that nowhere in the world were personnel recruited to police forces on the basis of ethnicity, language, caste or creed. Of some 2,800 police officers proficient in Tamil who were serving the department today in different positions, approximately 900 were deployed in the Northern Province, the official said. He said that some of the 2,800 personnel proficient in Tamil were Sinhalese.

According to SSP Rohana, since the conclusion of the conflict, in May 2009, the police had recruited nearly 1,500 personnel proficient in Tamil, including 60 Sub Inspectors to meet what he called the demand for policing in the Northern Province.

The Northern Range comprises Jaffna, Kankesanthurai, Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu, Mankulam, Mannar and Vavuniya.

SSP Rohana said that there were 42 police stations and 40 police posts in the Northern Range under senior DIG Gamini Silva.

The Northern Range senior DIG is on extension and expected to retire on Dec 3. Although Silva was to retire on Sept 3, he was given an extension due to the first Northern Provincial Council polls held on Sept 21.

Responding to a query, the police spokesman pointed out that Tamil youth were prevented from joining the police in the ‘80s by northern terrorist groups. Terrorists also carried out a spate of target killings of Tamil speaking police officers to discourage Tamil youth from joining the department, he said. "Threats prevented Tamils from joining the police until the conclusion of the conflict in May 2009. Unfortunately, those complaining about the dearth of Tamil speaking officers and men remained silent as long as they felt the LTTE could overcome the military on the Vanni front."

Asked whether officers had been deprived of promotions due to them being Tamil, SSP Rohana said that Rudra Rajasingham and T. Anandarajah functioned as the IGPs during the conflict. Apart from them, several other Tamil officers held senior positions during the conflict, he said, adding that the LTTE formed its own ‘police’ force in areas under its control.

The police spokesman emphasised that people of all communities could respond to police advertisements calling for recruits. It would be important to keep in mind that recruitment and deployment would never be on the basis of ethnicity, he said. During the conflict, the police had to adopt certain measures to meet the unprecedented threat to national security therefore it would be prudent to examine strategies adopted at that time in the context of the terrorism threat.