The Truth about the Assassination of 17 Humanitarian Aid Workers in Sri Lanka

Action Against Hunger | ACF International launches report to disclose the role of Sri Lankan security forces in the massacre of its seventeen humanitarian colleagues.*

3rd December 2013 – Ahead of International Human Rights Day, observed on 10th December, humanitarian organisation Action Against Hunger | ACF International reveals publicly for the first time who is responsible for the assassination of the 17 humanitarian aid workers killed on 4th August 2006 in the city of Muttur, Sri Lanka, and who protected the perpetrators of the crime. In one of the most serious crimes ever committed against humanitarian workers, the 17 aid workers were lined up, forced to their knees and shot in the head.

Entitled The Truth about the Assassination of 17 Humanitarian Aid Workers in Sri Lanka, the report unveils that according to the information ACF holds, the aid workers were assassinated by members of the Sri Lankan security forces and the criminals were covered up by Sri Lankan top authorities.

‘Every day we and other humanitarian organisations work in war zones,’ said Mike Penrose, Executive Director of ACF-France. ‘It is paramount that those who do not respect humanitarian aid workers are brought to justice and that these crimes do not go unpunished.’

ACF does not seek to be or to replace a judge. Up until now, the organisation’s position was to wait for the outcome of the official investigation. Now that relevant domestic mechanisms have been exhausted, witnesses have been silenced and the internal Sri Lankan investigation has become a farce, ACF considers it has a moral duty to denounce publicly the perpetrators of this crime.

The report brings together publicly available sources**, confidential documents and witness statements obtained by Action Against Hunger from witnesses on the ground and overseas, diplomatic contacts and other sources close to the matter. These sources implicate Army, Navy and Police personnel in the killings.

ACF calls on the international community to consider seriously the arguments presented in the report and to end the impunity by conducting an independent international investigation into the massacre. If such an investigation is opened, ACF stands ready to cooperate with it in full by providing additional information in its possession.

Every day, humanitarian workers risk their lives delivering assistance in situations of armed conflicts. Respect for those who deliver humanitarian assistance is the most important condition to be observed by warring parties. Impunity for the Muttur massacre is not only an example of flagrant injustice for the deceased aid workers; it is also a brutal sign to the international community that humanitarian aid workers who work in situations of armed conflict are no longer protected nor respected.

ENDS

*About the Muttur Massacre: Seventeen humanitarian aid workers working for Action Against Hunger were brutally executed on the organisation’s premises in Muttur on 4th August 2006. The aid workers were lined up and shot dead at close range. The Muttur massacre is not only a crime against humanitarian workers of unseen scale but also one of the most atrocious war crimes committed during the Sri Lankan internal armed conflict.

**Sources include: WikiLeaks cables, NGO articles, UN reports and press articles amongst others

Erasing the dead 04 December 2013 Sri Lanka last week announced a census to ascertain the number of war casualties; an attempt to counter increasingly insistent international demands for a credible accountability process at the next UN Human Rights Council session in March 2014. But Sri Lanka’s intention is not to establish an accurate count of civilian casualties. The clue rests in census officials’ assertions that only those cases where relatives can produce a death certificate will be counted as officially dead. Sri Lanka has however stalled and delayed certifying the deaths of large numbers of Tamil civilians, particularly from the final months of the war, a point repeatedly raised by international agencies, including the UN Expert Panel. The government’s criteria of counting only death certificates, and even then only those provided in person by immediate family members, exposes a barefaced attempt to officially erase large numbers of Tamil deaths from the war record and thereby challenge well researched international estimates of at least tens of thousands of Tamil civilian deaths in the final months of the war. Having repeatedly insisted that no civilians died during the last phase of the war, the growing and insurmountable weight of evidence on the scale of casualties has forced Sri Lanka to shift from blanket denial to open confrontation. The report of the UN Internal Review Panel stated that up to 70,000 Tamil civilians could have been killed, while the World Bank notes that over 100,000 Tamil civilians remain unaccounted for, after the end of the fighting in May 2009. Sri Lanka will use the distorted figures from its own census to undermine the gravity of international evidence and provide its allies in the UN Human Rights Council with ammunition to head off ‘western imperialism’. The head of the Department for Census and Statistics DCA Gunawardena said that evidence by third parties and relatives will not be accepted. Furthermore, only those immediate family members with certificates or police documentation to prove death or disappearance will be able to submit their claim to the census. But the process to obtain death certificates is complex and has made it difficult for families to receive appropriate documentation. “The lack of death certificates is a major problem in the north of Sri Lanka and in parts of the east. For the large number of female-headed households, death certificates proving that their husbands have died are essential to be able to claim compensation, to claim benefits, in some cases to put children into school, and to remarry.” – Minority Rights Group report 2011 Reports also suggest that certificates are only issued once family members provide assurance that no further legal action will be taken, an option that many would be forced to take. The UN’s Panel of Experts called on the government to not use the issuance of death certificates to preclude ‘any further legal recourse in the future.’ “While acknowledging the importance of expeditious issuance of death certificates when requested by a relative, the Panel stresses that in light of the experience in other countries, the issuance of a death certificate should not be used to distort or obscure the truth of the circumstances surrounding a death. Issuance of a death certificate following an administrative process is not a substitute for a bona fide investigation into the circumstances of an individual’s death, which meets international standards. It is also crucial that a relative’s acceptance of a death certificate does not lock the individual into a definitive legal position that precludes any further legal recourse in the future.” – UN Panel of Experts report The government has also said that those who have fled the country would not be able to file the names of their dead relatives and nor will the families with no survivors be counted. Census officials were careful to point out that the LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran and his family will therefore not be counted as there was no one left in the family to submit the claim. In short while the Sri Lankan government acknowledges that the LTTE leader and his immediate family were killed in the war, with evidence suggesting that his young son was executed while in the hands of the Sri Lankan military, they will nevertheless not be counted as ‘officially’ dead. Equally, other Tamil families across the north-east, who have perished entirely or whose relatives have now fled abroad, will be erased off the record of war deaths. The 16,000 employees of the Sri Lankan bureaucracy who will be deployed across the island to collect and record death certificates will establish an ‘official’ figure of civilian deaths which, Sri Lanka will petulantly insist, undermines established international estimates of tens of thousands of Tamil deaths, particularly those from the final months of the war. It is entirely predictable that Sri Lanka and its allies on the Human Rights Council will use the census to counter demands for a credible, independent investigation. Indeed Kamalesh Sharma, the Commonwealth Secretary General and notorious friend of Sri Lanka, has so far been the lone but prompt voice in welcoming the census. It is significant that having called for more time and space over the past four years to establish its own investigation into war crimes, Sri Lanka has now changed tack and is instead preparing to challenge the now established and painstakingly collected evidence of war crimes. The government’s census will be far from credible, unlike the detailed reports by the UN and some NGOs and human rights organisations. But this shift from delaying accountability and justice to challenging the very need for it arguably clears the way for a decisive move towards a credible investigation of Sri Lanka’s crimes, an investigation that must undeniably be international. If left to its own devices, Sri Lanka will continue to create an alternative narrative of what occurred during the final months of the armed conflict, something it must not be allowed to do. An independent, international investigation is long overdue.

Devananda extends invitation to Wigneswaran again

  By Shamindra Ferdinando-December 3, 2013, 9:30 pm 

EPDP leader and Minister Douglas Devavnada yesterday said he expected the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) to attend the District Development Council (DDC) meetings in Jaffna and Killinochchi in the New Year, though it had boycotted recent meetings.

 The Jaffna District MP told The Island that the Government Agents in Jaffna and Killinochchi would consult Northern Province Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran to explore the possibility of having DDC meetings after Thaipongal. The minister expressed confidence in the TNA agreeing to join him at the discussion table.

 The TNA secured the Northern Provincial Council (NPC) comfortably at the Sept. 21 polls winning 30 out of 38 seats.

The UPFA and its constituent, the SLMC shared the remaining eight seats.

 Minister Devananda said he was keen to involve retired Supreme Court Justice Wigneswaran in the development programme. The TNA should realise that it couldn’t manage the province on its own, therefore a working partnership was a necessity, he added.

Responding to a query, the minister said that the TNA would have to cooperate with Minister Rishad Bathiutheen with regard to development projects in the districts of Vavuniya, Mannar and Mullaitivu.

The Northern Province consisted of the administrative districts of Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Vavuniya, Mannar and Mullaitivu.

Commenting on the ongoing controversy over the possibility of Indian Premier Dr. Manmohan Singh visiting Jaffna on the invitation of Wigneswaran, Devananda said that various interested parties were causing uncertainty. He asserted that there could be more controversies due to forthcoming parliamentary elections in India early next year.  The government project to rebuild the Northern Province was on track regardless of internal as well as external challenges, the minister said. The TNA would have to work with the government in partnership to bring relief to those who had experienced untold hardships during the conflict, Devananda said.

US warns Sri Lanka over failure to investigate war crimes

World is losing patience with Sri Lanka over its refusal to investigate war crimes, US warns, as new report details alleged massacre of 17 French aid workers

Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa has rejected any international investigation Photo: EPA

By Dean Nelson, South Asia Editor- 04 Dec 2013

The international community is losing patience with Sri Lanka over its failure to investigate war crimes allegations, the United States has warned after new details emerged of atrocities.

Washington’s leading diplomat for South Asia, Nisha Biswal, said she hoped Sri Lanka would soon start its own investigation into United Nations claims that 40,000 civilians were killed in the last few months of the country’s long civil war in 2009.

Many of them were killed by army shelling of a so-called 'no-fire zone’ which civilians had been urged to flee to for safety. There are also allegations that senior leaders of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam (LTTE) were killed as they tried to surrender.

David Cameron, the prime minister, last month called for an international UN-backed war crimes investigation to be launched if Sri Lanka does not open its own inquiry by March next year.

Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa has rejected any international investigation, but Ms Biswal warned that international “patience will start to wear thin” if progress is not made soon.

The urgency was highlighted by a detailed report by the French charity Action Against Hunger (ACT) this week which claimed 17 of its local staff were executed by Sri Lankan forces in 2006.

According to the charity, its managers lost radio contact with local staff working in Muttur in Sri Lanka’s northern province on August 4 2006 where they were the last aid workers to remain as government and Tamil Tiger rebels were locked in battle. They had been providing relief for the survivors of the 2004 tsunami, but were, along with other aid groups, suspected by government forces of being Tamil Tiger sympathisers.

A few days later they were found dead. According to the charity’s own investigation, the staff had been lined up against the wall of their compound, forced to their knees and then shot dead at point blank range.

The charity said it had investigated the possibility that they had been killed by stray bullets or murdered by Tamil Tiger fighters, but said “all the direct and indirect evidence it could collect over the last seven years unequivocally points to the responsibility of the armed forces”. The group had hoped local inquiries by a magistrate court, the National Commission for Human Rights and the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission would bring justice for the victims, but said it no longer believed any domestic organisation was capable of an independent inquiry.

It had decided, in frustration, to publish its own findings and call for those responsible for the massacre to be punished.

“With no prospect of an effective domestic investigation after seven years of inconclusive legal proceedings, ACF has decided to publicly say that it believes that the 17 aid workers were assassinated by Sri Lankan security forces and the criminals have been protected by Sri Lankan authorities,” the report said.

The group’s inquiry drew on investigations by local NGOs and by the United States embassy in Colombo. It quoted the findings of the Jaffna-based University Teachers for Human Rights group which described how the staff drinking tea and eating biscuits during a break when they were attacked.

One of their killers “got the staff to kneel and the victims were fired upon as they begged for mercy. It was all over in five minutes from the time they arrived,” it said.

A report by the US Embassy in Colombo said it believed members of Sri Lanka’s Special Task Force and the "Muslim Home Guard" were the “likely perpetrators”.

UK maintains deadline for Lanka

December 4, 2013

The British Government says the March 2014 deadline issued for Sri Lanka to show progress on addressing alleged human rights issues still stands.

UK Foreign Secretary William Hague told the House of Commons that if the Sri Lankan Government does not show progress by the time the Human Rights Council meets in March next year Britain will favour an international inquiry that is independent, credible and thorough.

“We have called on the Sri Lankan authorities to investigate in an independent and credible manner the allegations of sexual violence, including the allegations that it was committed by Sri Lankan forces during and after the recent conflict. The Prime Minister has made it clear that in the absence of an independent investigation, we will press for an international investigation. We will continue to put that case…. In March, there will be a session of the Human Rights Council, of which, I am pleased to say, the United Kingdom was re-elected as a voting member last month. We will use that position to raise this issue along with many others around the world,” he said.

He also said that if the Sri Lankan Government does not show progress Britain will discuss with other countries in the Human Rights Council how best to address the issue.

He also noted that Sri Lanka has yet to agree to sign a declaration to end sexual violence in conflict and Britain is finding it hard to convince the Sri Lankan Government to do so.

“For instance because one of the provisions of our declaration is that there will be no amnesty in peace agreements for crimes of sexual violence and that there will be real accountability for what happened in the past. It is easy to see why the Sri Lankan Government do not want to embrace those issues, but we will keep on raising them with them,” he added.

William Hague was in Sri Lanka for the Commonwealth summit with British Prime Minister David Cameron. The Sri Lankan Government had made it clear it will not agree to any deadlines to address domestic issues. (Colombo Gazette)

Will MR Pit India Against South Africa?

by Upul Joseph Fernando

( December 4, 2013, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Mahinda seems to have hit upon the idea of a new strategy to counter the looming threat of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), adopting another damaging resolution at its upcoming March 2014 sessions. This new strategy is to accept the involvement of South Africa in the reconciliation process, as it had evidently shown much interest in it from about 2012. South African Ambassador in Sri Lanka at the time was the key player in setting the diplomatic ball rolling in that direction, by encouraging and organizing a visit by the South African Deputy Foreign Minister to the country, on a sort of fact-finding mission.

As a result of these diplomatic moves, South Africa’s Deputy Foreign Minister, Ibrahim Ibrahim, and a delegation paid a visit to this country and made contact with Defence Secretary, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, in the first instance, and thereafter with R. Sampanthan and others of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA). South Africa’s Deputy Foreign Minister had made a proposition to Sampanthan that they were willing to act as intermediary to start reconciliation talks between the government and the TNA. Covert moves made by South Africa came to the open when the TNA divulged the news to the media. The government was disturbed by the news of unilateral action South Africa was pursuing, seeking to mediate in Sri Lanka’s reconciliation process. As a counter to such unsolicited action from any quarter, the government issued a statement under the hand of External Affairs Minister, G.L. Peries, that Sri Lanka does not need the involvement of outsiders in its internal affairs.

South Africa’s help was crucial

Notwithstanding this diplomatic reaction from the government over South Africa’s interest in being involved in the reconciliation process, this matter later assumed even bigger importance due to the CHOGM. The government wished to have the presence of all African Commonwealth Nations at the CHOGM and South Africa’s help in this matter was crucial. Its President, Jacob Zuma, not only confirmed his participation in advance; he also promised to help get the other member countries in the continent to participate.

Proposal coincides

When the South African President met Rajapaksa, on the sidelines of CHOGM and offered to help, the President set up a Truth Commission in Sri Lanka, on the lines of the one South Africa had used to arrive at reconciliation in their country. Rajapaksa was receptive to Zuma’s proposal and had agreed to look into it seriously. The Sri Lankan President’s positive response to the South African President’s proposal coincided with the British Prime Minister, Cameron’s controversial pronouncement of a deadline for Rajapkasa, to act in respect of reconciliation. It was also at this time that Rajapaksa had expressed his wish to set up a Truth Commission here, which was identical to the one held in South Africa. Cameron had noticeably mellowed his rhetoric in relation to this matter. Going a step further, Britain has invited the TNA to a visit that country to discuss matters further, prior to the involvement of South Africa in the contemplated process. The TNA had however said that, before taking any action in regard to this matter, they will first consult India. With the setting up of Northern Provincial Council (NPC), India has already moved ahead towards a reconciliation process in the country. India is awaiting government action for the devolution of land and police powers to the NPC. Rajapaksa is well aware that India will tighten the screws if those powers are not devolved to the Northern Provincial Council before UNHRC sessions come up in March next year. India’s agenda in relation to this matter is entirely different from what South Africa will try to achieve. They will be concentrating more on bringing about reconciliation between Tamil Diaspora and the Sri Lanka Government. The 13th Amendment is not an important issue as far as South Africa his concerned.

Ample breathing space

President Rajapaksa is alive to the fact that any discussion with South Africa at this stage will take a long time, giving him ample breathing space. In light of the above, it can be safely assumed that Rajapaksa will agree to a South Africa sponsored Truth Commission for reconciliation.

Meanwhile, the TNA is trying to obtain India’s help to push the 13A to the fore in South African agenda. If the UK and the US gives their (crucial) support for the Truth Commission to be sponsored by South Africa, as to what action Mahinda will take is not clear as this point in time. In this context, the Australian PM’s advice to Rajapaksa to go along with South African sponsored Truth Commission assumes considerable importance.

Sri Lanka /Australia : PM's stance validates torture - AHRC

Wednesday, 04 December 2013 

At the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Sri Lanka at the weekend, Prime Minister Tony Abbott said that while his government ''deplores the use of torture, we accept that sometimes, in difficult circumstances, difficult things happen''.

His statement is not only legally and morally indefensible, it is also factually incorrect. Torture is prohibited under international law precisely because it is so reprehensible that no civilised society accepts it. The prohibition is absolute. Circumstances, no matter how difficult, can never be used to justify it.

But nor are the circumstances in Sri Lanka under which torture is used as difficult as the Prime Minister makes them out to be. In Sri Lanka, torture is most often used not in difficult circumstances but in routine police inquiries. It is endemic and pervasive precisely because it is used without regard for circumstances.

The Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC) in Hong Kong this year issued a 736-page report detailing more than 400 incidents of torture in Sri Lanka since 1998. Most pertain to ordinary criminal cases. They are from all parts of the island, not only areas directly affected by long-running civil war. The victims are both Sinhalese and Tamil. The stories are harrowing.

Sinnappan Kiragory was, in August 2006, arrested over a murder in Eheliyagoda, east of the country's capital, Colombo. Policemen assaulted him with clubs and jumped on his body in front of his wife and small children, who were with him at the time of the arrest. Two days later, he died in custody.

Policemen in Bandaragama, near Colombo, told a man accused of jewellery theft in May 2009 that they would make him ''vomit the truth''. They tied him to a pole between two boxes and swung him around it, while beating him and forcing ground chillies into his eyes. When the man's family came to the station, the police chased them away. They later forced the man to sign a document and charged him with a minor offence.

These cases are not a thing of the past. Because most cases of torture are not related to alleged terrorist acts or other events linked to the country's civil conflict, they have continued relentlessly since the end of the war.

More than 100 of the cases documented by the ALRC occurred after 2010. Police south of Colombo detained and tortured Sunil Shantha in 2010 in order to please an influential person who held a grudge against him.

They suspended him from the ceiling of their station and rubbed chopped chillies into his eyes and genitalia. Later they hung him horizontally from a pole and beat the soles of his feet, before releasing him without charge.

In 2011, police north of Colombo stripped a Muslim suspect and paraded him naked in front of men and women while jeering and yelling obscenities at him. He had tried to intervene on behalf of one of his brothers, who was already in custody and had reportedly been assaulted.

Their counterparts in the northern central province of Anuradhapura last year strung Thusitha Ratnayake from the ceiling of their premises and beat him about the spine, legs and heels to have him confess to the theft of a necklace.

Despite lodging complaints with various authorities, including the country's human rights commission, no action has been taken against the torturers.

The problem is not one of difficult circumstances but a lack of political will to address the incidence of torture. Creeping authoritarianism and militarisation in Sri Lanka have enabled its spread. Collapsed rule of law has meant that the courts and other institutions have also failed to halt it, despite the country having a domestic prohibition on torture since 1994.

Only a handful of police officers have ever been prosecuted for torture. Some have murdered their victims rather than have them testify. The government of Sri Lanka has increasingly rebuffed calls from international agencies and observers to give the law effect. Unfortunately, the Australian Prime Minister's position on torture and attendant abuses does nothing to improve the situation.

Rather, it encourages the spread of existing practices. It emboldens the Sri Lankan government to continue thumbing its nose at United Nations human rights bodies. It also undermines the legitimacy of the Australian government on questions of human rights, diminishing our voice on matters of great importance not only to people in Sri Lanka but to hundreds of millions of others in countries across Asia.

In his attempts to do everything and anything to stop boats of asylum seekers from reaching our shores, Abbott is playing a game with damaging consequences, both for this country's credibility, and for the human rights of Sri Lankans.

Dr Nick Cheesman is a research fellow at the department of political and social change in the Australian National University's College of Asia and the Pacific.

On Hudson Protest Vs Nimalka Protest

By R.M.B Senanayake - December 4, 2013 

R.M.B. Senanayake

Recently a group of women professionals decided to protest against the abusive language used by the Chairman of the Rupavahini Corporation Mr.Hudson Samarasinghe against M/s Nimalka Fernando an active civil rights campaigner. They gathered outside the Rupavahini carrying posters. A counter demonstration had also been organized and they too gathered in the vicinity to hoot and jeer at them.

The Police were present in numbers and instead of telling them to lay off pushed the women protesters away to the road. They apparently to protect them, surrounded the women and shepherded them away from the scene. The Police did nothing to stop the counter demonstrators jeering.

Peaceful protest it is a vital part of a democratic society and has a very long and respected tradition in the democratic world. It can be a very powerful campaign tool against injustice and many of the rights and freedoms we enjoy today were gained because people were prepared to go out on the streets and protest.

The United Nations Charter is binding on all member states and we are a member state. . The Universal Declaration is a fundamental document of the United Nations. The declaration has served as the foundation for two binding UN human rights covenants, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the principles of the Declaration are elaborated in international treaties such as the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the International Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women. In the Bangkok Declaration adopted by Ministers of Asian states meeting in 1993 Asian governments reaffirmed their commitment to the principles of the United Nations Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Public protest is deeply rooted in democratic political culture. There have been countless times in the past – even in the recent past – when public demonstrations of support for a cause, or opposition to a policy or government, have changed the course of history. ‘People power’ can be a potent political force, whether at a national or a local level; whether to do with political causes or single issues; whether in support of striking workers or bereaved families, or in opposition to globalization, or the waging of unjustified wars. When people have nothing else to fight with, it is often their solidarity with each other – to stand together and be counted which proves to be their most powerful weapon. These women could do nothing except to protest in the street to exercise their right against being abused by powerful personalities.                           Read More

SRI LANKA: The Unfair impeachment of the Chief Justice?

Unfair Inquiry of only "Six Hours"- detailed facts & truths.-December 4, 2013

The most astonishing, outrageous and mysterious aspect of the Impeachment proceedings is: How? The entirety of the 'actual Inquiry proper' of examining and recording of all the evidence of several witnesses, producing and marking enormous amount of complicated documents, was speedily and hurriedly rushed, in about Five Hours, of one continuous sitting, on the 7^th and the deliberation, preparation? consideration and approval the final Report, was done in just 20 minutes on the 8^th of December, [pp 247-252], all within the 'impossible' six hours, which would ordinarily take, several months of lengthy hearing and deliberation, but in this case against a "Chief Justice"--- it was strangely? - 'otherwise',  that is--

SRI LANKA the Unfair Impeachment of the Chief Justice by nelvely

Politicos’ verbal orders as the public servant’s blight

By Lynn Ockersz-December 3, 2013,

The power relations between politicians and public servants are of such a nature in our part of the world that the latter are often compelled to do the verbal bidding of the former, regardless of whether such unwritten orders are considered right or wrong. This power imbalance contributes in no small measure towards what is wrong being committed in the public sphere, besides socially responsible public officials being forced to violate the dictates of their consciences.

Unfortunately, a landmark Indian Supreme Court ruling made in November that politicians should from now on deliver written directives and not mere verbal ones to public servants on important issues, besides spelling out other measures of importance which could help in the qualitative improvement of the public sector, is yet to become part of ‘public discourse’ in Sri Lanka.

Ideally, this epochal Indian SC ruling must be discussed and debated in this country and other parts of the developing world where senior public servants do not enjoy independence of thought, conscience and decision-making to the desired degree. That this is not happening is, perhaps, a measure of the demoralization the public sector has suffered over the decades as a result of the major power imbalance between the politician and the public servant referred to above.

It is sometimes the case that public servants have to do the bidding of powerful politicians and their top representatives in public institutions, regardless of whether these orders are seen as right or wrong, and this country’s failure to evolve suitable institutions to protect and sustain the independence of the public service is also a principal reason for the steady enslavement of state sector officials to some politicians. It is best that local politicians bear in mind the words of former Indian Cabinet Secretary T.S.R. Subramaniam, who was among 83 retired senior Indian public servants who petitioned the SC on the question of insulating the Indian public service from political interference: ‘Public servants are not private servants.’

From what an impartial observer could gather from the interactions, locally, between politicians and their collaborators who wield power in public institutions, and the public servant, the latter is sometimes expected to follow the dictates clamped on him, regardless of whether it is considered advisable to implement these directives or otherwise. That is, there is minimal or hardly any debate or discussion on many a crucial issue, between politician and public servant, and it goes without saying that this state of affairs could only do more harm than good to a country. After all, a country which has virtually ceased to think enjoys no prospects of intellectual and spiritual growth.

Sad to say, this is true of many local state sector institutions and we urge both the ‘rulers and the ruled’ to think long and deep on this issue. It just would not do for politicians and their close representatives to relate in a top-down fashion to senior public servants. Ideally, institutional reform must take centre stage in what passes off as public ‘discourse’ and we must see concrete action to put things right, to the extent possible.

Mere verbal directives are sometimes issued by some politicians and their representatives at top decision-making levels in institutions, to their officials and strict obedience rigidly exacted from the latter when it is realized by the politicians and other authorities concerned that injudicious and wrong orders are thus being made. If this were not the case, written instructions would be sent out. That this acceptable procedure is not followed points to the fact that some politicians and their top representatives have no qualms of conscience in ‘playing it safe’ while their hapless officials suffer the consequences of carrying out these wrong orders. It could very well be the case that these powerless officials would even end-up behind bars while the brow-beating, heavy-fisted politicians and other authorities remain out in the open, living to bully and bluster another day.

When what is seen as the wrong instruction or order is not given in writing, but verbally, the duty-conscious public official has no choice but to say ‘no’ to them. He has to refrain from carrying them out because he could in no way violate the voice of his conscience. Besides, he should not stand accused of doing wrong by the people of this country. After all, a weighty duty is owed by the public servant to the people because it is the latter’s contributions to the public purse which help in the sustenance of public institutions and many a politician.

However, if an order comes to the public servant, on what is considered a sensitive and crucial matter, from his ‘bosses’ in writing, he may carry it out if he thinks it would not result in any harm occurring to the common weal, but the last court of appeal as to the advisability of carrying out the contemplated measure or action is none other than the official’s conscience. The public official is obliged to say ‘no’ to these potentially harmful orders if his conscience tells him that it would be injudicious, unethical and not in the public interest to abide by the directive concerned. Besides, the official needs to consider his personal and professional integrity very deeply. Those orders which transgress the latter concerns need to be rejected as well.

In other words, the public servant cannot sell his or her soul for a ‘mess of pottage’. But saying ‘no’ to wrong orders could be a matter of life and death for the public servant. After all, his job could very well be at stake if he is seen by his bosses as defying instructions. The fact must be faced that many a public servant who is seen as ‘uncooperative’ is sacked by intolerant and position-hungry bosses.

Many a public official has no choice but to carry out orders, regardless of the advisability of carrying them out, in consideration of their jobs and livelihoods. However, a law to the effect that politicians and their collaborators should always issue written directives to their officials could go some distance in shielding public servants and their livelihoods. This will enable a court of law to apportion blame to bosses and not their hapless officials if matters arising from public servants carrying out the wrong instructions come-up for adjudication at a later date.

In the long and medium terms, public officials of this country need to emulate their Indian counterparts. Our public servants need to ensure that a law is in place to protect their independence and their personal and professional integrity. They must cease being pawns of politicians and their henchmen. Once such a law is in place, every effort must be made by public servants to ensure its full implementation.

Looking Back at Six Decades of Lankan Journalism: What went wrong?

Edwin Ariyadasa, who completed 91 years on 3 December 2013, is one of two grand old men of Lankan journalism still practising their craft (the other being D F Kariyakarawana, also 91).

• by Nalaka Gunawardene
• - on 12/04/2013 

The veteran journalist has been active in his profession for nearly all of Sri Lanka’s post-independence years. During that time, he has played a variety of complementary roles: feature writer, newspaper editor, columnist, radio and TV host, journalist trainer, author and translator among others. He continues to juggle many of these and has no retirement plans.

Nalaka Gunawardene: Looking back at your long career in journalism, you spent 35 years at Lake House, one of the oldest newspaper publishing houses in Asia?

Continue Reading →

Teacher of a leading government school at Paranawadiya Colombo demands fees privately

(Lanka-e-News- 04.Dec.2013, 8.30PM) Although the President , the government and the education department are making loud announcements that the government schools have been ordered not to take fees , it is a well and widely known fact that Principals and teachers of a majority of government schools are demanding payments from students , and even indirectly insulting and punishing the students if they do not give in to their extortionist demands.

At a leading government school which produced a national team cricket captain who won the world cup , a married lady teacher of grade five -4 is demanding and collecting Rs. 5060.00 from every student in her class by force , and has even gone to the extent of publishing the name of a child in the class Board for not giving in to her extortionate demands., and made him a laughing stock before the other children in the class. Young as he is , the child had been so mentally depressed , he is now refusing to go to school , it is learnt- all because of teacher’s extortion , School higher ups conniving at her wrongdoing and the education Ministry too uncaring.

The parents of this child say , they have always been making payments to the teacher on every occasion she has made such demands as they did not wish to let down the school of their son , but on this occasion as they were strapped for cash , they had asked for time . Despite it the teacher had resorted to this diabolic and dastardly action uncaring for the serious detrimental impact her insolent and brutal action can have on the young minds.

Whether this teacher is collecting these monies to line her own pockets or is this an organized racket among a group of teachers of that school or is she using it for the school needs is unknown, as most parents do not wish to expose this and create a conflict with the teacher in question for, if she takes retaliatory action she can subject their children too to this mental trauma 

The parents say , no matter what, her actions are absolutely illegal , and therefore if the higher ups in the school do not take action against her , they have only one conclusion – the higher ups are also acting in collusion with this teacher possessed of overriding venal habits at the expense of children’s education and the reputation of the school..

The Education Minister and the School higher authorities – it is over to you to take the necessary action against this teacher before you are also brought to disrepute. Even if the Ministry is indifferent as the public have long lost faith in it , as the Principal of the school you cannot dodge this responsibility , in which event you will be laying bare yourself to ignominious incrimination to your detriment..

CID REVEAL SCANDAL BEHIND MURDER OF DELFT PS CHAIRMAN

December 4, 2013 

The motives behind the murder of the Delft Pradeshiya Sabha Chairman, Daniel Rexian have now been linked to an illegitimate relationship between Rexian’s wife and the lead suspect, Kandasamy Kamalendran, the CID revealed.

The Chairman of the Delft Pradeshiya Sabha, Daniel Rexian was shot and killed by an unknown group while his body was found on November 27 in his home in Punkudutivu.

The PS Chairman was a member of the EDPD party.

Police stated that his wife, Rexian Anida had informed police that there was no suspicion behind the death of her husband and that he had probably consumed poison.

However, the post mortem revealed that the PS Chairman had sustained a head injury caused by a firearm and was thus pronounced a murder.

Investigations revealed that the murder was conducted with the wife’s consent while she along with the Opposition Leader of the Northern Provincial Council K. Kamalendran (EPDP) and his assistant London Sasindran were arrested for the murder.

The 9mm pistol used in the murder along with 11 bullets and the motorbike used by Kamalendran and Sasindran as the getaway vehicle were seized by the police.

The CID revealed that the wife of the victim and Kamalendran were engaged in an extra-marital relationship.

Rajapaksas to set up night bazaar in Hambantota

 Wednesday, 04 December 2013 

 

The Mahinda Rajapaksa government is to set up a night bazaar in Hambantota in order to convert the Hambantota Town into a city that does not sleep.

Investment Promotion Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena has said that the project to set up a night bazaar in Hambantota connecting the port and the airport is currently underway.

He has observed that there has been massive development in the Hambantota area with the port and airport.

According to Abeywardena, the increase in vehicles passing the Hambantota city has made it necessary to set up a night bazaar in the area.
The Rajapaksa government constructed a port and an airport in Hambantota, which is the Rajapaksa constituency, at a massive cost to the public. However, the Hambantota port has been unable to record the desired number of ships to call at the port while key international airlines have refused to land at the Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport in Hambantota. The airport has now been converted into an aircraft repair centre with only SriLankan and Mihin Lanka operating flights to it.

Gota has met another LTTE leader in Italy on the sly-caught red handed by Italian secret service

(Lanka-e-News- 04.Dec.2013, 8.30PM) The Italian Intelligence service had revealed that Sri Lanka (SL) criminal defense secretary Gotabaya Rajapakse on his recent tour of Italy has met a prominent LTTE cadre recognized still as an international terrorist.

The Italian State intelligence service which launched on an anti terrorist campaign D. I. G. O. S. conducted an operation to arrest 35 LTTE terrorist frontline leaders at one time on 17 th June 2008 . On that day 33 LTTE leaders were arrested at various places , while two others made good their escape. Later one of the LTTE escapees had surrendered but the other LTTE leader had not so far been apprehended.

The notorious criminal defense secretary Gotabaya well noted for illicit deals and establishing illicit connections with terrorists and arms dealers had on his Italian tour somehow met the LTTE leader who the Italian intelligence service could not arrest. The Italian intelligence service had received information confirming this meeting .

The LTTE leader who was absconding the Italian intelligence service had arrived at the hotel where the SL criminal defense secretary was staying and met with him. However what transpired or what transactions took place between them is still not known. CCTV cameras however have confirmed the meeting between Gotabaya the criminal defense secretary and the criminal LTTE leader who is evading arrest.

One of the parties to the Euros in millions account belonging to a group of three LTTE leaders is this LTTE leader who met Gota . As the three of them had got separated , and since the SL security division has got information on this , not one has so far come to the open to make claims .

It has also been confirmed that two secret teams of Banks in St. Marino have also met Gotabaya at the Hotel where he stayed.

It is a cruel irony that while the Italian government is still considering LTTE as an internationally proscribed organization , the SL government is getting down LTTE leaders into this country and giving protection secretly , not to mention having clandestine discussions and transactions with those leaders abroad . This is a clear index that the SL government is supporting and stoking international terrorism , the Italian intelligence service sources pointed out.

In the circumstances , the Italian intelligence services is getting ready to take action through the diplomatic channels

Cop killers biting the dust

Editorial-December 3, 2013, 

An underworld figure, known as Ketayam Wasantha, wanted for the killing of a police constable and his wife in Kamburupitya, has died at the hands of the Special Task Force (STF). He is the fourth suspect killed during the last few days. The police say he died in a gun battle.

The police seem hell bent on eliminating criminals rather than crime. An Opposition lawmaker has expressed grave concern about the manner in which suspects in police custody get killed. Successive governments have refrained from resuming judicial executions for political reasons in spite of calls from the victims of crimes for hanging criminals. Last year, a disabled soldier whose young daughter had been raped and killed, offered his services, free of charge, as a hangman at the Welikade Prison. Ironically, governments have no qualms about permitting extrajudicial executions!

Although the physical elimination of criminals in police custody or during manhunts is a matter of serious concern, the ordinary people troubled by the ever increasing crime rate may approve of such action for want of a better alternative. The judicial process is frustratingly tardy and criminals are capable of silencing witnesses by virtue of their wealth and political clout. How vulnerable the law-abiding citizens are in a society where criminals even kill police personnel goes without saying.

The blame for creating a situation where the long arm of the law has to adopt extraordinary, if not extrajudicial, measures to deal with hardcore criminals should be apportioned to successive governments and police bigwigs who have brought their department into this sorry pass over the years. Criminal gangs don’t emerge overnight. Their rise in the nether world of crime is a gradual process. Most of their members have political connections or high ranking police officers in their pocket.

The police, it may be recalled, could not arrest Kudu Lal, a notorious drug dealer in Colombo, because he was protected by some police officers and a minister who finally helped him flee the country. Gonawala Sunil was a UNP strongman who carried out many political killings and attacks on the then Opposition. Another much-dreaded criminal who worked for the UNP was Soththi Upali; he murdered people at will and raped women after dragging them to the Borella Cemetery at night with the police looking the other way. Kaduwela Wasantha, responsible for dozens of murders and attacks on the UNP worked for the SLFP. A serial killer called Beddegana Sanjeewa also did ‘political work’ for the SLFP. Another killer with SLFP connections was Wambotta. All these murderers died violent deaths as they became too embarrassing for their political bosses and fell from grace.

Among our searing exposes during the past several years have been an IGP’s participation at a drug dealer’s bash in a five-star hotel and the provision by Kudu Nauffer, currently serving a jail term for ordering Judge Sarath Ambepitiya’s assassination, of food and beverages for a judicial officers’ function. JVP parliamentary group leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake alleged in Parliament on Monday that someone had abused Prime Minister D. M. Jayaratne’s office to issue a letter seeking the clearance of a container with 250 kg of heroin concealed in cans of grease. The PM has promised to make a statement after the on-going investigations are over.

In 2006, Police Inspector Douglas Nimal, an efficient crime buster, and his wife, Dhammika, were shot dead while they were travelling in a van in Athurugiriya. Sadly, there was no high octane performance on the part of the police at that time. Nimal, too, had served in the East as an STF commando from 1987 to 1996. We reported on the incident extensively and editorially called upon the police top brass and the government to conduct a high level probe and arrest the killers. Sri Lanka Police Inspectors Association fought quite a battle seeking justice, but to no avail. That crime has remained unsolved to date. So much for the selective efficiency of the police!