The Predatory Them And The Puerile Us

| by Tisaranee Gunasekara-Thursday, January 23, 2014

“King who feed on your people, since you rule nonentities…”

Homer (The Iliad)

( January 23, 2014, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Six billion rupees of public funds will be spent on building a super-luxury condominium to house Sri Lanka’s abstemious parliamentarians. The fully air-conditioned skyscraper will spread over two-and-a-half acres and consist of “all modern facilities such as swimming pools, gyms, walking paths, restaurants and playgrounds” . The self-denying parliamentarians will pay the princely sum of Rs 1,000 per month for their new rent-free abodes, as refundable deposit.

The Predatory Them and the Puerile Us by nelvely

Ambassador Sison's Remarks at Nagakovil

January 23, 2014

Kaalai Vannakam!

Honorable Secretary to the Governor of the Northern Province, Mr. Ilangovan; Honorable  Divisional Secretary, Mr. N. Linganathan; Honorable Secretary of Fisheries for the Northern Province, Mr. R. Varatheswaran; Honorable Chairman of Sevalanka, my good friend Dr. Harsha Navaratne; Sevalanka Director of Special Projects Ms. Lakshi Abeyesekara; Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am delighted to be here today as the U.S. Embassy hands over this very important livelihood assistance of ten  fiberglass fishing boats, fishing nets, and outboard engines to benefit the more than 200 families here whose lives depend on the sea.

We know that restoring livelihoods makes a huge difference to communities still recovering from having been displaced from their homes as the result of the conflict.

Earlier this month, our US President, Barack Obama, asked each of his US Cabinet members to ask themselves, every day, “what am I doing right now that could help real people?”

I am happy to say that we are fulfilling this request today!

This event is all about “people to people”!  These fishing boats are a gift from the U.S. people to the people of Nagakovil.  My team and I are so happy to be here with you!

This is not my first trip to the north, however.  In fact, in August 2002, I traveled to the north for the first time as part of a U.S. State Department delegation.  It was very different here in the north a dozen years ago. 

Of course, the conflict was still on.  Times were very difficult for the communities of the north.  We traveled by road through the devastated Chavakachehcheri town and then stopped at Sarasalai, where we inspected demining activities being conducted with US support.  We took a trip to Muhamalai, which was then the front line.  We then went to Jaffna to meet the Bishop and many political and civil society members.

That trip made an indelible impression on me.  I never forgot the families I met, the mothers, fathers and children whose lives had been disrupted, who had lost their homes, lost their livelihoods, and who wanted nothing more than to return to them.

The war ended seven years later in 2009, but even today, many remain displaced, unable to return home due to issues related to durable housing, unresolved land and property issues, and of course the need for sustainable livelihoods.

Although there has been progress in re-establishing infrastructure in the north, many returnees continue to face difficulties in earning a livelihood, and in meeting their family’s basic needs in order to live in dignity and reintegrate into their communities.

Today, we know that the community in Nagakovil is working together to rebuild lives after repeated displacements. We know that this has been a long and difficult process.

The U.S. government, in partnership with all of you, is committed to helping returnees through provision of essential support services.

USAID remains the largest single donor and is a strong advocate for durable resettlement.  Our current program with Sewalanka is aimed at fulfilling that purpose.

Farmers need to return to the farmland their fathers farmed.  Fishermen need to return to the waters their fathers fished. 

In this respect, Sewalanka has done a fantastic job in working to deliver badly-needed services to returnees.

We are proud to be Sewalanka’s partner!  I especially congratulate Sewalanka's energetic and dedicated  Jaffna staff for their commitment and tireless work!

I would also like to thank the GA, the Divisional Secretary, and fisheries department for their invaluable support for this project.

Last but not least, I congratulate the Nagakovil community and the fisheries society members for their warm welcome in organizing this event.  I wish you great success in your future endeavors. 

Nandri!

மன்னார் புதைகுழியிலிருந்து இதுவரை 44 எலும்புக் கூடுகள் மீட்பு 

23 ஜனவரி 2014, வியாழ

மன்னார் திருக்கேதீஸ்வரம் பகுதியில் உள்ள மனித புதை குழியிலிருந்து இன்றும் ஒரு மனித எலும்புக்கூடுகள் மீட்கப்பட்டுள்ளதாக தெரிவிக்கப்படுகிறது.

மன்னார் நீதவான் ஆனந்தி கனகரட்ணத்தின் மற்றும்அனுராதபுர சட்ட வைத்திய நிபுணர் டி.எல்.வைத்தியரட்ன ஆகியோர் முன்னிலையில் மனித புதை குழி இன்று தோண்டப்பட்டது. அதிலிருந்து ஒரு  மனித எலும்புக்கூடுகள் மீட்கப்பட்டுள்ளன.

ஏற்கனவே மீட்கப்பட்ட 43 எலும்புக் கூடுகளுடன் சேர்த்து இதுவரை 44 எலும்புக் கூடுகள் புதைகுழியிலிருந்து மீட்கப்பட்டுள்ளன.Translate this page 

So far 44 skeletons from a mass grave in Mannar Recovery 

Mannar Thiruketheeswaram still in the mire of human skeletons have been recovered. Mannar Magistrate kanakaratnat thus marrumanuratapura legal medical expert of IT. L.. vaittiyaratna today in the presence of human burial pit dug. A human skeletons recovered from it. already far 44 skeletons were recovered along with 43 ​​skeletons recovered from the grave.

- See more at: http://onlineuthayan.com/News_More.php?id=511042593723135151#sthash.wZ4jZkyH.dpuf

NZ leader assures independent foreign policy and international investigation

[TamilNet, Thursday, 23 January 2014, 07:09 GMT]
Leader of the Opposition in the New Zealand Parliament, Mr David Cunliffe, on Saturday, assured that his party would follow an independent foreign policy and would support international investigations into the war crimes and crimes committed against Tamils. He was addressing a grand gathering of Eezham Tamils celebrating Pongkal festival at the Mt. Eden War Memorial Hall in Auckland. The NZ Labour Party leader has promising chances of becoming the next Prime Minister, political observers in New Zealand said. 

David Cunliffe

“What happened during the final stages of the war in Sri Lanka is now an open secret. It was a deliberate annihilation of innocent lives in tens of thousands – even women and children, toddlers and sucklings in their mothers’ arms were not spared and were buried in the bunkers. It is a tragedy of tragedies, a black era of the 21st century,” said Mr. David Cunliffe in his address.

“The end of the war has not led to the end of the despicable trends in inter ethnic and inter religious relationships. On the contrary it has aggravated the situation. We are watching the ever-increasing sexual abuse of Tamil women under a militarised administration of the North and East, setting at nought the civil liberties and civil administration,” the Labour leader further said.

He condemned the NZ Prime Minister for participating the Sri Lanka CHOGM.

“Our Prime Minister Mr. John Key by participating in the CHOGM meeting in Sri Lanka in November last year defiled the norms on which the Commonwealth was founded. He should have at least lent support to the British Prime Minister Mr. David Cameron in condemning the continuing serious human rights violations in Sri Lanka,” the Leader of the Opposition remarked.”

“The International Community cannot compromise the violation of the inalienable inherent right to human dignity, humanism, human rights and humanitarian laws. We will follow an independent foreign policy and will retrieve New Zealand from the current perilous plight. We will support an international inquiry into the war crimes and crimes against the Tamils,” he assured, receiving a standing ovation from the Eezham Tamil gathering.

The Opposition Leader’s hint at the need of ‘independent foreign policy’ even in supporting obviously righteous matters of humanitarian importance is what that haunts the so-called Liberal Democracies of the world today. The issue implied by Mr David Cunliffe has to be carefully perused by the entire humanity, in order to identify the ultimate forces that dictate foreign policies and to collectively act on their edification, commented Tamil diaspora activists.

UK notes abuses during CHOGM

By admin on January 22, 2014

The British Foreign Office noted that there were incidents of human rights abuses reported in Sri Lanka while the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) was taking place.

In an update to its Human Rights and Democracy report covering the months of October, November and December, the UK Foreign Office said that the human rights situation in Sri Lanka did not improve during that period.

It noted that during CHOGM family members of the disappeared from the north were prevented by security forces from travelling to Colombo to attend a human rights festival. The festival itself was attacked on 14 November, allegedly by pro-government protestors who previously attacked the Sri Lankan Opposition Leader’s vehicle. A Tamil youth at the event was temporarily detained and allegedly attacked by the police. The police obtained a court order preventing protests and processions in Colombo during the 15 and 16 November, resulting in the cancellation of a candlelight vigil by human rights defenders.

The report also noted that part of the British Channel 4 team in Sri Lanka for CHOGM decided to cut short their visit, citing extensive intimidation and surveillance, including an apparently government-orchestrated protest which prevented the train they were travelling on from reaching the North.

During his CHOGM visit, British Prime Minister David Cameron said that Britain would be forced to use its position in the UN Human Rights Council to support the call by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to establish an independent international investigation, if Sri Lanka failed to set up a credible, transparent and independent domestic process by March 2014.

The British report further notes that concerns continued over the culture of impunity in Sri Lanka. It said that on 14 October a Sri Lankan court released on bail 12 Special Task Force personnel accused of killing five Tamil students in the eastern town of Trincomalee in 2006 (the ‘Trinco 5’). The case had been re-opened for investigation in July this year. On 3 December French NGO, Action Against Hunger (ACF), in a report on the assassination of 17 ACF humanitarian aid workers in Sri Lanka, alleged that the aid workers were assassinated by members of the Sri Lankan security forces and the crime was covered up by “top Sri Lankan authorities”. In December, newspapers reported that the Sri Lankan Human Rights Commission had postponed the National Inquiry on Torture that was due to be set up with assistance from the Commonwealth Secretariat, on a request from civil society. Prominent civil society actors have disassociated themselves from the request.

There were also a number of custodial deaths of suspects under questionable circumstances during the period, in addition to two reported abductions, the British human rights report said. One of the alleged victims returned days later while the other remains missing. There were also a number of attacks on Christian churches and mosques during the period, including three on Christmas Eve.

Positively, the report says the Sri Lankan External Affairs Minister told diplomats in December that a proposed Witness Protection Bill was nearly at the end of the parliamentary process. The Commission investigating wartime disappearances extended its deadline to receive complaints. The Commission’s mandate was also extended by six months. Dr. Chaloka Beyani, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), visited Sri Lanka from 2-6 December. He noted Sri Lanka’s “impressive strides in rebuilding infrastructure” and highlighted the need for more durable housing, access to social services, and the creation of livelihood opportunities. He also noted that of equal importance is an environment allowing the resettled and remaining IDPs to exercise their property rights, receive information on missing family members and access legal services. (Colombo Gazette)

Sri Lanka’s HR Successes Make Megre Reading

January 23, 2014“

Successes of the Sri Lankan government in addressing human rights violations make megre reading as Presidential secretary Lalith Weeratunge  made a presentation to Geneva based diplomats on Sri Lanka’s progress on issues raised by the international community.

Addressing a gathering in Geneva on 21, January Weeratunge cited Army Courts of Inquiry into allegations of civilian casualties and the summary execution of captured persons as evidence of addressing serious concerns regarding the conduct of the military.

As of information available in the public domain the Army has found itself absolved of any wrong doing.

Meanwhile elaborating further Weeratunge boasted that a “Non summary investigation” has commenced in September 2013 in to the killing of five students in Trincomalee in January 2006. Weeratunge says that since September 2013, fourteen persons have given evidence to the inquiry and that the next siting is scheduled for March 2014.

It is interesting to note that the Sri Lanka Human Rights Commission, at that time enjoying a semblance of independence, in 2006 tasked a three person Commission to look into the same issue. The Commission concluded its findings in three months after carrying out a thorough investigation and submitted the report to the HRC in April of 2006, a mere four months since the tragic incident. The report which was not originally published by the HRC but eventually placed in the public domain by the Colombo Telegraph categorically found that the security forces personnel were responsible for the brutal slaying of the five students.

With regard to the killing of 17 aid workers in Muttur,  Weeratunge claims that a “Team of prosecutors are reviewing material and the CID conducting further investigations.” The incident took place nearly six years ago in August 2008.

Freedom Party blues

•  January 23, 2014
• For years reams have been written about the crisis within the main opposition United National Party. Long winters in Opposition make parties prone to internal rifts and leadership battles. The Sri Lanka Freedom Party, the main party in the ruling UPFA coalition, meanwhile, has been embroiled in a silent crisis of its own, for the better part of nine years

Freedom Party Blues by nelvely

Statistics Dept to sack top official 

  January 23, 2014 

The Department of Census and Statistics said yesterday it will sack one of its top officials for disobedience and leaking internal information, following his revelation that economic growth data compiled by the office had been inflated last year.
 
 
Opposition legislators have criticized President Mahinda Rajapaksa's Government, saying it has long overstated growth estimates and given unrealistic inflation figures aiming to get lower rates on foreign loans and attracting foreign investors.
H.S. Wanasinghe, the former acting director at the National Accounts Department, had stated the Statistics Office revised up 2013 first quarter year-on-year economic growth figure to six per cent from his originally computed 5.4 per cent.
 
 
An internal statement by Wanasinghe had said the growth figure was increased to six per cent in his absence, just before the official release.
D.C.A. Gunawardena, the Director General at the Statistics Office, rejected the allegation over data manipulation and said the upward revision was due to some 'inconsistent' data.
 
 
"We've conducted an inquiry on the... disobedience and leaking of internal information. The inquiries are over and I've... recommended the Public Service Commission to sack him," Gunawardena told reporters. "It will be done soon."
J.C. Weliamuna, the head of Transparency International's local branch, said Wanasinghe had a duty to tell if there was manipulation. "What the government should do is to correct the errors instead of victimizing him," he said.
 
 
The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, Sri Lanka's main business group, has urged the authorities to investigate the data manipulation allegation in a credible and transparent manner.
The IMF, in its May report, said Sri Lanka's national accounts "suffer from insufficient data sources and undeveloped statistical techniques" and the method for deriving gross domestic product at constant prices was 'not satisfactory.'
 
 
On Tuesday, the Central Bank said allegations of data manipulation by the authorities were 'unfounded and baseless' and the recommendations of the IMF had been distorted.
Official figures show Sri Lanka's economic growth has been more than 6.3% every year since 2009. The Central Bank said the economy expanded 7.2% in 2013 to US$ 67 billion and estimated this year's growth at 7.8%t.
(Reuters)

NOROCHCHOLAI PLANT BROKEN DOWN ON 271 DAYS

January 23, 2014
The Norochcholai Coal Power Plant has so far failed to generate power on a total of 271 days, due to various mechanical failures, since it was commissioned in 2011, the Minister of Power and Energy Pavithra Wanniarachch said today.

The Norochcholai power plant had commenced generating power on February 13, 2011.

It has been 1,086 days since the power plant was commissioned and on 271 of those days the plant failed to generate electricity, she said, responding to a question by JVP MP Anura Kumara Dissanayake in Parliament. 

Invisible hand behind breakdowns of power plants?

 Thursday, 23 January 2014 

The government says it is seriously suspecting as to whether there is an invisible hand behind the breakdowns of Norochcholai coal power plant, Kelanitissa, Randenigala and Rantembe hydro power plants and the Canyon and New Laxapana power plants which are inoperative due to a lack of water. Due to the breakdowns of these power plants, the national grid is losing 80 megawatts of power. In view of this situation, a power-cut will definitely be enforced within weeks, CEB spokesman Senajith Dassanayake has told the media.

The inoperative status of these power plants had resulted in a 25 per cent reduction in the generation of hydro power and a 65 pc decrease in thermal power generation. Following the breakdown of the Norochcholai power plant, the CEB has to buy a unit of electricity at a higher price, from Rs. 28 to Rs. 45. Therefore, the government’s previous promise to remove the fuel adjustment charge and bring down the electricity bill will be confined to a promise only.

With the coming year being a year of elections, this situation will unavoidably create public displeasure against the government, and it will adversely affect the government’s election campaign. Therefore, the president has ordered state intelligence to immediately find out as to whether there is an invisible hand behind the breakdowns of these power plants.

WikiLeaks: Mangala Samaraweera Is Openly Homosexual – US Embassy Colombo Informed State Department

January 23, 2014

“Mangala Saraweera, 47, is a PA/SLFP MP from Matara District in the south. First elected to Parliament in 1989, he was previously the main SLFP organizer for Matara, where his father also served as MP. He was Minister of Posts and Telecommunications in the previous PA government. Samaraweera is another PA hard-liner, who is said to advise the President to hit out at Prime Minister Wickremesinghe and the UNP government whenever possible. He is also one of the major proponents of an alliance between the PA and JVP. A former academic, Samaraweera attended the University of London and is openly homosexual. He is Sinhalese Buddhist.”  the US Embassy Colombo informed Washington.

Mangala and the Cabinet Minister of State Management Reforms, Navin Dissanayake / File photo

On November 18, 2003, sending brief biographical sketches of key advisers to then Sri Lankan PresidentChandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, in a confidential cable to US state department the US Ambassador to Colombo Jeffrey J. Lunstead described Mangala Samaraweera as a none family member advisor. According to the US ambassador there were only four none family party advisors to the President including Lakshman Kadirgamar, Sarath Amunugama and Kingsley Wickramaratne.

On April 15, 2004, Ambassador  Jeffrey J. Lunstead wrote; As reported Reftel, Sri Lanka’s new cabinet was sworn in on April 10. (FYI. President Kumaratunga retained control of the defense and internal security portfolios — see Reftels. Due to a dispute with President Kumaratunga, the radical Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna, ‘JVP,’ has not yet assumed the handful of ministerial positions it was promised before the election.”

Under the subheading ‘Biographic data on key ministers’ the ambassador wrote; ”Mangala Saraweera, 47, is a PA/SLFP MP from Matara District in the south. First elected to Parliament in 1989, he was previously the main SLFP organizer for Matara, where his father also served as MP. He was Minister of Posts and Telecommunications in the previous PA government. Samaraweera is another PA hard-liner, who is said to advise the President to hit out at Prime Minister Wickremesinghe and the UNP government whenever possible. He is also one of the major proponents of an alliance between the PA and JVP. A former academic, Samaraweera attended the University of London and is openly homosexual. He is Sinhalese Buddhist.”

The Colombo Telegraph found the related leaked cables from the WikiLeaks database and the “Confidential”  cables are signed by the US Ambassador to Colombo Jeffrey J. Lunstead.

Related posts;

Fork-tongued Hirunika!

 Thursday, 23 January 2014 

The pictures posted below were sent to us by a member of the Sri Lanka Mahajana Party (SLMP). The note that accompanies the pictures cannot be published, because the content has gone beyond the limit of pain and dejection. Briefly said, what he had written to us was that ‘Lucky Aiya’s big daughter’ had shamefully deceived all members of the SLMP. 

These pictures had been taken just 24 hours before Hirunika left to strengthen the hands of the president. At this meeting, she has told SLMP members that “We should go forward until victory is achieved in order to give true meaning to the deaths of Wijaya Kumaratunga, my father and others who had sacrificed their lives for the party. I am prepared to make any commitment for the furtherance of the party’s objectives, and I am prepared to contest from the quota the party will receive in the future.”

After considering her request, SLMP members unanimously adopted a proposal to field her at the election. Barely 24 hours elapsed, Hirunika had gone to Temple Trees. Receiving the Colombo Central co-orgranizer position from the president, she had ‘auctioned’ her father and others who had laid down their lives for the party. Hirunika has become an upcoming star in the abominable politics in Sri Lanka.

SLMP’s Asanga Nawaratne told the media yesterday, “If what Hirunika said before the politburo of the SLMP is revealed to the country, leave alone contesting elections, she cannot at least stay in the country.”

Pictures show Hirunika addressing the SLMP politburo.

PM says he should be hanged if found guilty

 

By Saman Indrajith-January 22, 2014, 9:57 pm

Prime Minister DM Jayaratne told Parliament yesterday that even a prime minister of a country should be hanged if found guilty of importing heroin.

 "Hang me if I am guilty. It is so unfortunate that ethanol and heroin are smuggled into this country. I have not even seen heroin in my life. It is said that one of my secretaries sent a letter seeking demurrage waiver for a heroin container. I do not say that was right. It cannot be approved of. Any minister or secretary sends hundreds of such letters. When people come to us seeking for assistance we give them letters. Even if an MP had come to me asking for a letter recommending duty wavier I would have given it. But in this case the request did not come to me. A letter given by one of my secretaries is used by my detractors who claim that the Prime Minister imports heroin."

 Prime Minister said he had not been rattled by political mudslinging. "I am not shaken at all and no one could shake my mind even by stabbing me. And I am ready to bow down and apologise if I have done anything wrong," he said.

"I have not earned any money for years. I have not even touched money. I do not even know who harvest pepper and coffee on my plantations."

 Prime Minister Jayaratne said that special courts should be set up to hear cases related to heroin. "We should follow Singapore and set up special courts to hear cases related to offences of smuggling drugs and give the capital punishment for those found guilty for drug offences. Otherwise, this country would be destroyed."

TWO MAIN POLITICAL PARTIES PROMOTE 'SEX SYMBOLS,' NEGLECTING EXPERIENCED PROVINCIAL POLITICIANS


2014-01-22
Campaign for Free and Fair Elections (CaFFE) states that the two main political parties are neglecting experienced local politicians, who have been leading youth and women's groups and party trade unions, in giving nominations for the coming provincial council elections for Western and Southern provinces and filling their nomination lists with 'sex symbols.'

The two main political parties are increasingly neglecting individuals who have been active in grassroots and strengthening the party and focusing on popular new comers. CaFFE adds that recent examples have shown that most of these 'stars,' who have no political experience and discipline, fielded by the opposition have crossed-over for personal gain and that the continuous endeavors of the main political parties to promote such stars are impeding the political futures of men and women who have sacrificed the best years of their lives for politics.

The main political parties have commenced interviews to select candidates for each district. Reports have revealed that a large number of regional politicians with years of experience behind them have been neglected in favor of 'sex symbols.'  Sri Lankan politics have a dearth of strong female politicians and the current actions of main political parties, promoting movie stars and beauty queens without political experience and knowledge over female political activists with years of experience, have ensured that this will continue into the foreseeable future. A look at the recent past has shown that such stars have a habit of changing political parties for personal gain and  making a mockery of representative democracy by commencing much publicized petty disputes with other provincial politicians. These individuals have contributed to the increasing loss of respect to politicians among the voters which has an adverse effect on peoples faith in representative democracy.

Provincial council elections are a gateway for talented regional politicians to enter mainstream politics. By limiting individuals with political experience and potential from entering provincial councils and by promoting sex symbols who will further erode people's belief in representative democracy the two main political parties are destroying the foundations of democracy. They are also destroying and/or delaying the emergence of the next generation of political leaders who will govern the country in the coming decades. CaFFE urges all political parties and independent groups to disengage from petty politics by promoting 'sex symbols' for short term gain and encourage the emergence of political leaders who are politically knowledgeable, disciplined and experienced.

Media Unit – CaFFE
January 22, 2014.

Abolish The Archaic Victorian Anti-Gay Laws: United Womens’ Front

January 23, 2014 

The Sri Lankan government’s attempt to invoke archaic laws against UNP Matara District MP Mangala 

Samaraweera in a bid to take political revenge against him, says the United Womens’ Front (UWF)

Diana Gamage

Issuing a statement today the president of the UWF, Diana Gamage says; Attempts by the Commonwealth Chairman led government to invoke archaic Victorian laws of the Sri Lankan penal code on the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community is a direct violation of the Commonwealth charter.

She says; “The country is in need of an era that preserves good governance and democracy while being rid of inhumane archaic laws, and that this is the expectation of multi national, multi religious and LGBT masses.

“That the government is attempting to invoke archaic laws against UNP Matara District MP Mangala Samaraweera in ab id to take political revenge against him, the press release says, adding that the government is also preparing to unleash a wave of suppression over the LGBT community in Sri Lanka through this action.

“Attempts to unleash the law against MP Mangala Samaraweera over his personal life is being done by bringing back outdated morality laws of the Victorian era. It has been a while since these laws were abolished even in England, which is their birthplace. However, they are being unearthed by the current regime and their affiliates.

“At the present, the LGBT community of Sri Lanka are pressurized by the section 356A of the Sri Lankan penal code

“As a country which not only is a Commonwealth member but also holds the collective’s Chair post, we would like to remind President Mahinda Rajapaksa that these archaic laws are a direct violation of the Commonwealth Charter”

Related posts;

PS chief arrested at last, remanded till end of trial -Murder of British national and gang rape of his girlfriend

By Chitra Weerarathne-January 22, 2014,

Colombo High Court Judge Rohini Walgama, yesterday remanded accused Sampath Vidanapathirana, Chairman of the Tangalle Pradeshiya Sabha, till the end of the trial in respect of the murder of British national Khuram Shaikh and the gang rape of his Russian girlfriend Victoria Alexandrovna.

Vidanapathirana and five others have been indicted in respect of the murder and gang rape on or about December 25, 2012 at a tourist hotel in Tangalle. They face seventeen charges.

When this case was called on January 9, 2014, Vidanapathirana was absent. His counsel told the Court that the third accused Vidanapathirana was hospitalised at a private hospital. However, a medical report was not submitted. Hence the warrant was issued against the accused. Yesterday the CID, had arrested and produced him in court. Attorney at law Hemantha Gamage appeared for the accused.

Senior State Counsel, Thusith Mudalige, appeared with State Counsel Chaminda Athukorale and State Counsel Naomi Wickremasekera for the Attorney General.

The other five accused persons are on bail. The bail granted to Vidanapathirana was cancelled yesterday.

The next date of this case is March 26 and 27, 2014.

Human Rights Watch report highlights ongoing struggles in Burma

Smoke rises from debris of a burnt mosque which was torched during clashes between Buddhists and Muslims in Thabyuchaing village last October. Pic: AP.

By Casey Hynes Jan 23, 2014

Burma continues to be a contradictory and frustrating nation when it comes to human rights, making gains in some areas while remaining woefully behind in others, according toHuman Rights Watch’s 2014 world report.

HRW highlighted four key areas: violence against Muslims, laws on basic freedoms, ethnic conflict and displacement, and key international actors.

Muslim communities in several parts of the country were targeted in violent attacks in 2013, resulting in deaths, destruction, and increasing unrest. This attitude has been driven in part by notorious Buddhist monk U Wirathu, who has encouraged anti-Muslim sentiment. HRW noted that no political leaders, including the often revered Aung San Suu Kyi, came forward to denounce the anti-Muslim violence, furthering the grave situation.

The Rohingya Muslim of Rakhine (also known as Arakan) state are among the most persecuted groups in the country. HRW reported that more aid reached the Rohingya in 2013 than in 2012 but that “serious concerns remain over restrictions on movement, lack of livelihoods, inadequate basic services, and continued threats from hostile Arakanese.” Those who protest their situation run the risk of abuse and even death, and Human Rights Watch described the violence and hostility toward the Rohingya as ethnic cleansing campaigns and crimes against humanity.

The legislative situation remains tenuous, with proposed laws on the press and the establishment of NGOs often quite repressive. Backlash against these resulted in some reforms, but the fact that the government continues to try to exert such control is troubling. Though the media industry continues to grow in Burma, proposed legislation could restrict media freedoms and the government has already demonstrated it will not hesitate to ban what it deems incendiary materials or reporting (as in the case of the issue of TIME magazine featuring Wirathu on the cover).

The report reaffirmed that despite ceasefire agreements between the government and ethnic rebel groups, there are still many reports of military attacks on the ethnic communities. Hundreds of thousands of people are still displaced in eastern Burma and along the Thai-Burmese border, and the situation still looks grim as “Thailand, Burma, and the UN refugee agency have agreed that conditions for the refugees’ return in safety and dignity are not yet present.”

The Burmese government continues to develop ties to the international community, working out military agreements with the United States and United Kingdom, and celebrating the lifting and suspension of sanctions by the European Union and the United States.

Burma’s President Thein Sein paid visits to the U.S., U.K. and Australia and continued to assure those governments that Burma was committed to improving the human rights situation, though there is little evidence to support that claim. HRW noted that attempts to establish an office for a UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Burma were “repeatedly blocked” by the government, and the country’s National Human Rights Commission “continues to receive numerous reports of alleged human rights violations but it has not adequately investigated the reports.”