Mass grave fuels fear of thousands buried in Sri Lanka war zone

1 OF 11. Marked human skulls are seen at a construction site in the former war zone in Mannar, about 327 km (203 miles) from the capital Colombo, January 16, 2014.

CREDIT: REUTERS/DINUKA LIYANAWATTE

BY SHIHAR ANEEZ-MANNAR, Sri Lanka Fri Jan 17, 2014

(Reuters) - The discovery of a mass grave containing more than 30 skulls in northern Sri Lanka has fuelled speculation that there may be many more like it containing the remains of thousands who went missing during the island nation's nearly three-decade war.

The police have suggested that the Tamil Tiger rebels it defeated five years ago could be responsible for the burial, uncovered near a historic Hindu temple in the district of Mannar.

Sri Lanka is already under international pressure to address alleged wartime human rights violations. A failure to probe the discovery could fuel the anger of Western nations demanding an independent international investigation into suspected abuses.

The remains, which workers stumbled on as they dug up roadside paving for a water project, are yet to be identified. The first mass grave to be found in the former war zone, it is spread over an area measuring about 400 square feet (37 square meters) and is 5 feet deep.

"The bodies are buried in several layers. Unfortunately, the top layer of the bodies have been destroyed by the road construction work," said Dhanajaya Waidyaratne, the Judicial Medical Officer in charge of the excavation.

More than 100,000 people were killed in the war between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the government military since it started in 1983 and thousands, mainly ethnic- minority Tamils, are still unaccounted for or missing.

A U.N. panel has said around 40,000 mainly Tamil civilians died in the ferocious final months of the conflict, but Sri Lanka has disputed that figure. Both sides committed atrocities, but army shelling killed most victims, it concluded.

Police Spokesman Ajith Rohana said initial forensic evidence suggested the bodies may have been buried at least 15 years ago.

"This area was controlled by the LTTE for over 20 years and there are reports that hundreds of soldiers went missing in this area. But we don't know for sure. The investigations are continuing," Rohana told Reuters.

THOUSANDS MORE

Residents and a religious leader in Mannar say, however, that the area was controlled mainly by the army from 1990.

"This grave has grown-up people and children, and there are some holes in the skulls believed to be from gunshots," the Catholic Bishop of Mannar, Rayappu Joseph, who went to inspect the mass grave and the skeletons, told Reuters.

"We don't know who killed these people. This is an area that was held by army for a long time. Wherever there has been LTTE or army camps, we must dig."

A top military official denied that the area was under army control during the war. "The area changed hands between the LTTE, the Indian Peacekeeping Force and army over time," he said, declining to be named.

The former political proxy of the Tigers, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), which was voted to power in northern provincial polls last September, said the mass grave was the tip of an iceberg and there must be many more.

"The loss of lives, according to us, is between 75,000 to 150,000. Where are those remains?" TNA legislator M.A. Sumanthiran told Reuters. "They must be somewhere. If they were put into incinerators and destroyed, we don't know. But we don't think more than 100,000 would have been dealt with like that."

Last year, Sri Lanka set up a presidential commission to investigate a mass grave with remains of more than 150 people in a central province. The evidence was sent to China for forensic investigations and so far there has been no conclusion.

Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said it may be true that the LTTE was responsible for the latest find.

"Unless there is real transparency in the forensic investigation, we'll never be sure," he said in an emailed comment. "But we know they won't want to open a Pandora's Box that would incriminate many senior figures."

(Additional reporting by Ranga Sirilal in Colombo; Editing by Ron Popeski)

The Tourist In The Chicken Coop

By Gongalay Gotabanda -January 17, 2014

Gongalay Gotabanda

Once upon a time, on a sunny morning in Sri Rogerpakistan, a man looked out of the window and saw a tourist inside his chicken coop. So the man went to the bedroom where his wife was still asleep and woke her.

“There is a tourist in the chicken coop” he said, “and I think he is hatching an international conspiracy!”

His wife opened one angry eye and looked at him.

“Tourism has been completely defeated” she said. “There are no longer any tourists in Sri Rogerpakistan…not even the ones who went around waving white bed sheets!”

So the man walked out slowly into the garden and went towards the chicken coop. The tourist was still there.

“Are you a tourist or a state tourist?” the man asked. “I’m a tourist, and I’m hatching an international conspiracy using NGO money to bring the government of Sri Rogerpakistan into disrepute!” the tourist replied.

So the man walked back into the house and roused his wife again. “The tourist is hatching an international conspiracy using NGO money to bring the government of Sri Rogerpakistan into disrepute!” he said.

His wife sat up in bed and looked at him coldly.                     Read More

SLMC wants a Presidential Commission for Muslims

 Friday, 17 January 2014 

Governing party ally, the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) has called for the appointment of a Presidential Commission to investigate the grievances of the Muslim people in the Northern and Eastern provinces.

The party has stated that the Muslim community in the country has been badly affected by the war and remains displaced even today after being evicted from the North in the 1990s.

General Secretary of the SLMC, parliamentarian M.T. Hassan Ali has said the party is also not satisfied with the performance of the Presidential Commission on Disappearances since the government does not have proper figures of the deceased and displaced Muslims.

“Vote for a systemic change, not just for a regime change”: Eran

 January 17, 2014

“The number tampering by the Central Bank and the present Government is a serious issue,” warns United National Party Parliamentarian Eran Wickramaratne, adding that “by altering the number, we cannot really see the red lights.” Speaking further Wickramaratne says there is a serious issue about data integrity. “It has implications. They are talking about a low budget deficit like 5.8% but if your GDP number is actually inflated, then the budget deficit may not be 5.8%, it may be 8.5%.” Following are excerpts from an interview with the Daily FT:

“Vote for a systemic change, not just for a regime change” Eran by nelvely

The great eyewash 

The great eyewash
  January 17, 2014 2:00 am   

Welikada Prison massacre inquiry report is no less than a whitewash. Here is one palpable case as to why internal investigations conducted by the incumbent government are not worth their salt. The internal inquiry commissioned by Prison Reforms Minister, Chandrasiri Gajadeera, into the massacre at the Welikada Prison in 2012 has now ruled that the 27 prisoners, who were slaughtered in the prison riot, had in fact been killed by the prisoners themselves. Even by the standards of the incumbent government and its previous commissions, the latest commission findings are a bit of a stretch.
 
Minister Gajadeera, who appointed the three-member commission, says the commission report has stated that the prisoners had weapons and they had shot each other and that the lack of knowledge in using firearms and personal vendettas had led to the deaths of prisoners.
 
The three-member committee, comprising retired High Court Judge, Bandula Atapattu, retired Deputy Inspector General (DIG), Gunasena Thenabadu and Legal Officer of Prison Reforms, Lalith Andrahennadi was appointed by Minister Gajadeera in the aftermath of the outrage over the killings. The 565-page report of the commission has now been shared by the minister with Ministry Secretary, P.W. Witanage, Commissioner General of Prisons, Chandraratne Pallegama and other prison officials.
 
The report has not yet been released to the public and there is no plan by the ministry to do so.
The Prison Reforms Minister appears to have swallowed hook, line and sinker the fictitious findings in the commission report. He was also on record saying to this newspaper that the report had justified the summoning of the police Special Task Force to the prison.
 
However, the gory details of the massacre could not simply be covered up by a seemingly dubious commission of inquiry.
 
Prisoners' version
 
In the aftermath of the massacre, media, including this correspondent, quoted both prisoners and prison officials, who narrated with horror as to how prisoners were summarily executed by the Special Task Force.
Those victims were called out from their prison cells, taken away and summarily executed by the Special Task Force, according to the witnesses and prison officials.
 
The Army took control of the prison around 2-3 a.m. on Saturday 12 November 2012.
"After the riot was quelled, prisoners had reportedly gone back to their cells. Later, the STF and police officials attached to Peliyagoda and Dematagoda Stations came with a list of names and some inmates were asked to come out of their cells, " one prison official told at that time. According to the prisoners, only 16 prisoners were killed in the riot. Eleven others were subsequently summarily executed.
 
The last inmate was killed at 6 a.m. on Saturday. Several others, such as Mole Chaminda and 'Ward Place' Shiyam, a leading drug baron, whose names were called out by the police survived as they had been transferred to the Mahara Prison on the previous day.
Eleven bodies that were transferred to the mortuary of the National Hospital from the prison on Saturday were believed to belong to the victims of summary execution.
 
According to the prisoners' accounts, after the riot was quelled, prisoners were made to sit on the floor inside their cells by the police officers, who then called out names of prisoners from a list. Prisoners say 11 prisoners were taken out from the cells and later killed.
 
Strategy of underworld busting
 
All evidence indicates that this is a summary execution, planned and sanctioned by the law enforcement authorities. The prisoners who were killed were hardcore elements, implicated in drug smuggling, multiple murders and armed robberies. The executions appeared to be part of then and present law enforcement strategy of underworld busting, which saw the custodial death of scores of hardcore criminal suspects, many of whom died under suspicious circumstances. The inability of the government appointed commission to acknowledge those gory details and its efforts to whitewash the culpability of the police and STF in those crimes are symptomatic of the overall collapse of the independent institutions of the country.
 
However, excessive servility towards the government manifest in those commissions, in fact, impedes even the feeblest efforts of the government to rehabilitate itself and its institutions. Those commissions and their lopsided judgments are indeed fostering the prevailing climate of impunity in the country. They are the manifestations of the internal rot of the current Sri Lankan State.
Their commissioners are proof of the cheapness of our times.
 
They in fact do more harm than favour to their masters. Through their servility they have proved that internal investigations in this country are more likely to be end up being a farce.
It is interesting that the three- member commission appointed by the Prison Reforms Minister took lot more time than the initial three months it was originally mandated. They ought to have taken a little more time and present the report on 1 April, the only day in the year that is befitting to such a ridiculous verdict.

Stubborn facts, pliable statistics

Editorial-January 16, 2014, 

The Opposition has flayed the government for cooking up statistics to produce impressive indicators and paint a rosy picture of the socio-economic situation in the country. It has got hold of something to beat the ruling UPFA with. The kneejerk reaction of government worthies and their economists has been to pooh-pooh the allegation and vilify their detractors, critics and doubters.

The practice of cooking up statistics is not of recent origin. It is as old as politics. Any government wants statistics to do what Humpty Dumpty expects words to; they should mean what it chooses them to mean—neither more nor less. It is said that facts are stubborn and statistics pliable.

Statistics, cooked up or otherwise, and indicators based thereon are rather deceptive, to say the least. We are in a situation where the official inflation rate has come down drastically, but prices have gone into the stratosphere! Prof. Aaron Levenstein has famously said, ‘Statistics are like bikinis; what they reveal is suggestive, but what they conceal is vital." How true!

As for misleading economic indicators, the per capita income is a case in point. Economists, as is the practice all over the world, divide, with a generous hand, the national income—most of which the super rich account for—among all citizens including the poorest of the poor. Worse, vital policy decisions that affect the lives of the ordinary people are made on the basis of this figure which is made out to be the average income. The same goes for the so-called poverty line and the like. Unfortunately, we have to use them for want of a better alternative.

Politicians, either in government or out of power, cannot be expected to tell us the truth about anything. Lies, damned lies, statistics—and politics! Those trying to retain power by hook or by crook and their rivals desperate to gain it at any cost never see eye to eye on anything. Two dogs at the same bone seldom agree, as they say. So, what politicians tell us about an issue is not to be taken as the truth blindly. Time was when the SLFP ridiculed the late President Ranasinghe Premadasa’s Jana Saviya as a farce and rubbished the statistics the then government flaunted in a bid to bolster his claim that his poverty alleviation programme was a huge success. But, today, the same programme continues under a different name with some cosmetic changes, and the SLFP-led UPFA claims it to be a success!

However, it behoves the government to clear serious doubts that the Opposition has cast on its much flaunted statistical data and indicators if it is to prevent further erosion of public confidence therein. The JVP has called for the appointment of a Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) to probe the accuracy of socio-economic data dished out by state institutions. Its right to make such a demand cannot be questioned, but we thought it had no faith in the PSC process after the controversial impeachment of Chief Justice Dr. Shirani Bandaranayake! Given the composition of the current Parliament, even if a PSC were to be appointed by any chance on the government’s economic indicators etc, it would be packed with UPFA MPs and the purpose lost.

The government cannot have any difficulty in making the process of preparing its socio-economic indicators transparent and keeping it open to scrutiny by independent experts if it is confident of the accuracy of its claims and has nothing to hide. It should be able to say, "Come and see!" Trotting out lame excuses and branding its critics as traitors won’t do.

VIDEO: GOVT’S RIGHTS VIOLATIONS PAVED THE WAY FOR FOREIGN INTERFERENCE - JVP

January 16, 2014 

The JVP today charged that the government’s continues violations of democracy and human rights, for the purpose of safeguarding its power, have created the opportunity for Western nations to interfere in Sri Lanka.

The government violated democracy and human rights for its power, JVP MP Anura Kumara Dissanayake said, adding, that security forces opened fire in Rathupaswala, Chilaw and Katunayake not for the country but for the sake of Rajapaksa family and the family’s power.

 He stated that even former Chief Justice Dr. Shirani Bandaranayake was sacked for the Rajapaksa family’s power and not for the country. 

He stated that the Sri Lanka Police are able to solve any controversial crime but the reason no arrests have been made regarding the numerous journalist murders and attacks on media organizations is due to the government.

He claimed that the government’s direct involvement in the murders of journalists including former Sunday Leader Lasantha Wickramatunga is the main reason that no arrests have been made regarding those cases. 

He stated that journalists were attacked and murdered, media organizations were torched not for the betterment of the country, but solely to protect the Rajapaksa family’s power. 

The country’s democracy and human rights were completely violated for the power of the Rajapaksas, he told reporters in Colombo.

Not just that, within the past 4 years over 1,200 university students have been suspended, 130 students have been arrested, over 125 have been assaulted and 20 have been robbed of their degrees, Dissanayake said. 

This oppression of university students is for the Rajapaksa government’s attempt to destroy the country’s education, he alleged.  

“The Rajapaksa administration controlled the country by violating democracy and human rights for their power.” 

Especially in the Northern Province, the immediate establishing of democracy and human rights was required after the war, but still a semi-military control is prevailing in that region, the Parliamentarian said.

He stated that a wedding ceremony or even funeral cannot be held at a residence in the North without the intervention of intelligence officers.        

Instead of safeguarding the human rights of the people in the North, especially after the war, the government continues to violate their democracy and human rights, he claimed. 

These actions by the government has created the space for the western nations to interfere in Sri Lanka, he emphasized. 

Similar to opposing the inference by Western nations led by the United States, the public should also oppose the government for paving the path for these counties to interfere, he said.

Anura Kumara further stated that at a time when Sri Lanka’s diplomatic service should be at its strongest, the President has appointed his relatives and stooges to the top diplomatic posts. 

Our country is facing the biggest threat from the US and therefore we should send the “superman” of the Foreign Service to take up the role of Sri Lanka’s ambassador to the US, he said. 

“Today who is our ambassador in the US? Beliatte Jaliya. A tea leaves trader who took tea leaves from Deniyaya and sold it in the US. A relative of Mahinda Rajapksa.”   

He stressed that instead of sending the most intelligent professionals from the Foreign Service to the major countries, the President has sent his brother-in-law to serve as Sri Lanka’s ambassador to Russia, a politician who lost the last provincial polls to Italy, a former Rupavahini corporation Chairman to Germany and so on. 

As per order from top, Thilanga to hunt down Karu, Milinda

 Friday, 17 January 2014

MP Thilanga Sumathipala, the owner of Sumathi Publishers that publishes ‘Lakbima’, is on a campaign to hunt down Karu Jayasuriya and Milinda Moragoda with one bullet.

 As the first step, daily ‘Lakbima’ planted a story to the effect that Mr. Moragoda, presidential advisor and one-time closest ally of UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe, will be the UNP’s chief ministerial candidate at the western provincial council polls. The newspaper further claimed united leadership council chairman Jayasuriya has held several rounds of talks with Mr. Moragoda in that regard.
 On the morning of January 13, Thilanga had spoken to daily ‘Lakbima’ editor Saman Wagarachchi and inquired as to why the newspaper was not attacking Milinda and Karu any further. The owner ordered the editor to immediately publish an article to the effect that Karu-Milinda talks are still ongoing and that more such news be planted.
 According to internal sources at the newspaper, the editor has tasked Lasantha Weerakulasuriya, assistant news editor, lobby correspondent and who covers Ranil Wickremesinghe and the UNP, with this news planting work. When both the editor and his subordinate expressed reluctance to fulfil Thilanga’s contract, the owner has insisted on that account. Mr. Wagarachchi has advised his assistant editor to write something without the byline, to which he had replied that he would write along with a statement from Mr. Jayasuriya.
 Mr. Weerakulasuriya had tried unsuccessfully several times to reach the united leadership council chairman over the phone, and also attempted in vain to get to him through his media secretary, who had replied that he has gone outstation.
 In the end, another editorial member wrote a story to the effect that there has been a meeting between Karu and Milinda, as was the wish of Thilanga, and it was published in the provincial issue of January 14. Thilanga has severely reprimanded the assistant editor for not carrying a statement from Mr. Jayasuriya along with it and ordered that the article be dropped from the city edition, said the sources further.
 But, the original story as wanted by Thilanga was posted on the online edition of ‘Lakbima’ on January 14 and online editor Anrua Horatius had forgotten to remove it until late into the afternoon.
 Await further details about this contract given Thilanga by a topmost position in the country…

Muslim Council Confident Of Living A Peaceful Life Under Rajapaksa’s Able Leadership Says Interest Free Loan Journo Ameen

January 17, 2014

“All Sri Lankans, irrespective of their religious belief’s have high hopes of living a peaceful life in our blessed country after over three decades of conflict. We are confident that under your Excellency’s able leadership, this dream could certainly be a reality.” says the President of the Muslim Council of Sri Lanka, N M Ameen.

N.M. Ameen

Referring to the recent attacks on religious places, the Muslim Council president, Journalist and media activist NM Ameen, who also applied and was granted Rs. 1,200,000/- of interest free government loan from a state bank to purchase car or van, where the interest will be paid by the Treasury using tax payer money says; “We thank you, your Excellency for your immediate attention and look forward to a complete halt to the threat to the minorities by these extremist groups.”

We publish below the statement in full;

16th January 2014

His Excellency Mahinda Rajapakshe

President,
Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka Presidential Secretariat
Galle Face,
Colombo 1

Your Excellency,

Re: Attacks on places of religious worship of minorities.

We wish to draw your Excellency’s kind attention to the mob attack on Assemblies of God and the Calvary church in Hikkaduwa (Galle District) while the congregation was engaging in peaceful worship services on the 12th of January 2014. The unruly mob led by some Buddhist monks blatantly infringed on the peoples right to worship.

This is not the first incident of this nature and the police who were present could not prevent these elements from causing havoc at a place of religious worship. Certain Buddhist monks, publicly claiming to be the un-official police continue to intimidate the minorities. This has become a growing trend and has gone unchecked.

The Muslim community too has faced many situations of violence, harassment and intimidation by extremist Buddhist groups. Up to now, the police have not made any arrests in any of these incidents.

We kindly urge your Excellency to order the law enforcement agencies to rein-in these mobs that infringe on the peoples fundamental right to worship. Should there be any breach of law by any individual or groups, we kindly urge that due process is followed and necessary legal action is taken without letting individuals or religious groups to take the law in to their own hands.

All Sri Lankans, irrespective of their religious belief’s have high hopes of living a peaceful life in our blessed country after over three decades of conflict. We are confident that under your Excellency’s able leadership, this dream could certainly be a reality.

We thank you, your Excellency for your immediate attention and look forward to a complete halt to the threat to the minorities by these extremist groups.

Yours truly,

N M Ameen

President,
Muslim Council of Sri Lanka

CC: Mr Gotabhaya Rajapakshe
Secretary,
Minister of Defense and Urban Development Colombo 1

Monk Conference Backs Bills to Restrict Interfaith Marriage, Rohingya Voting

A banner promoting the new Upper Burma chapter of the Group to Protect Nationality, Religion and the Buddhist Mission is seen at a monastery in Mandalay. (Photo: Teza Hlaing / The Irrawaddy)

By ZARNI MANN / THE IRRAWADDY| Thursday, January 16, 2014

MANDALAY — Thousands of Buddhist monks who gathered at a conference in Mandalay will continue to submit signatures to Parliament in support of a proposed law that would restrict interfaith marriages between Buddhist women and men of other faiths.

Monk Conference Backs Bills to Restrict Interfaith Marriage, Rohingya Voting by nelvely

Sri Lanka’s Leadership And The Attacks On Churches

By Fr. Sarath Iddamalgoda -January 17, 2014 

Fr. Sarath Iddamalgoda

The Sri Lankan Constitution and other laws and policies and the UN declaration on human rights protect religious freedom. The Sri Lankan Constitution states, “Every person is entitled to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, including the freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief of his choice”. The Constitution gives a citizen, “the right either by himself or in association with others, and either in public or in private, to manifest his religion or belief in worship, observance, practice, or teaching”.  The UN declaration of human rights states, “Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance”.

The reason media reports suggest that there is escalation of violence and attacks on Churches in Sri Lankan highlighting the abuses of religious freedom in Sri Lanka. Any action that is utilized to limit the ‘freedom of thought, conscience and religion’ is an infringement of the constitution of the country. Clearly, the attacks carried on the Churches are not just the violation of the constitution that allows religious freedom but also are a violation of human rights as well.

It must be noted that the Constitution accords Buddhism the “foremost place” and commits the government to protecting it, but does not recognize it as the state religion. However, it is widely noted that apparent motive of attack of the Churches and places of worships of minority religions in Sri Lanka is to safeguard the primacy of Buddhism. Buddha himself noted “May all being be happy minded and may their hearts be wholesome”.  Such action of the concentrated group of people of fanatic devotion is not only highlights the crudeness of their religiosity but undermines and betrays teachings of their master.Read More

Betrayal of Buddhism by Buddhist monks

 January 17, 2014  

Sometime back the country has experienced Buddhist monks coming into direct politics. In recent times the country has experienced Buddhist monks grouped under various names rampaging in the streets, engaging in violence against other religions.
The topic, whether it is appropriate for Buddhist monks to engage in politics, was debated for a long time. In the 1940s Buddhist monks attached to Vidyalankara Pirivena took a bold step not only to engage in so-called politics as they interpreted but also to actively engage with it. The academic staff of the Vidyalankara Pirivena unanimously made a declaration dated 13th February 1946 which was subsequently called the Vidyalankara Declaration, justifying the reasons why Buddhist monks should engage in politics, which term was defined by them. The declaration was issued under the name of Kiriwaththuduwe Pragnasara who was the Head of the institution at that time.

Betrayal of Buddhism by Buddhist Monks by nelvely

Urgent Press Statement: Stop Continuous Genocide on Rohingya - Deal with Myanmar's Cruel Government

Salem-News.com-Jan-17-2014

This time many women were raped, tortured and killed.
(KUALA LAMPUR) - Myanmar Ethnic Rohingya Human Rights Organization Malaysia (MERHROM) strongly condemns the Myanmar government for the new attack on the ethnic Rohingya in Kela Daung Village, Maungdaw Township. The information received by MERHROM reveals that the attack started on 13 January 2014. Within 2 days more than 250 Rohingya women, men and children has been killed by the Myanmar security forces namely Loonthing and police together with ethnic Rakhine. Within 2 days of the attack more than 300 women and more than 100 men were arrested. Until now we do not know what is happening to all of them.

Urgent Press Statement Stop Continuous Genocide on Rohingya - Deal With Myanmar's Cruel Government by nelvely